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iSartart Collegt littatj

IJn-vi,. JjiUAj^A. f^ ■ yiiA4,artAy

CORNET JOSEPH PARSONS

our. OF Tilt FdUHBUWi W

I Springfield and Northampton. Massachusetts

SPRiNCriELD, I6]{<
MOflTBA-MPTON. t6ii

[ AN HlFTOflCAL SKFTCn FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES, VK.. TOWN,
CjOURTy, OXIRT, AKD PRIVATE REOOMtS

HENRY M. BURT

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ALBERT RiDSS PARSONS

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ALBERT «OSS PAUSONS

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did not promise much to the majority of the incomers beyond
a very scanty living, and the toilers in this field took their
reward in a feeling of entire independence of the depressing
religious and political influences which surrounded them in
the English homes from which they had come. Freedom of
thought and action and limitless extension of opportunity
were suflScient in themselves to make the simplest life here
attractive, and far more to their desire than the homes which
they had left behind them.

Although there has been a long lapse of time since the
aboriginal inhabitants of this land passed the titles to the
soil of this valley to the people of Anglo-Saxon origin, our
forefathers, the past, dim as it is, has not been obliterated,
and there is more than ever a growing pride in what has been
accomplished; and that which marked the early settlements
in purpose is still retained, broadened and adapted to newer
conditions. It is the spirit which came here at the beginning
that has been preserved and which has made New England
conspicuous among the great commonwealths of our country.

The autograph of Comet Joseph Parsons can be seen in
Volume II. of the Transactions of the town, in the North-
ampton town records, and in petitions sent to the General
Court from Northampton, in the State archives at Boston,
now in the custody of the Secretary of State.

SpsinqfiblD) Ma6s«, May 6) 1897.

CORNET JOSEPH PARSONS.

A SKETCH BY HENRY M. BURT.

Springfield, Mass., was the first town settled within the
present limits of the State, west of Boston. A few Connecti-
cut towns were settled at a slightly earlier date. Wethersfield
and Windsor were a little more than a year in advance, but
Hartford, where the most important settlement was begun,
was simultaneous in its date of founding with that of Spring-
field. In 1634 and 1635 movements were begun looking
toward making permanent settlements in the Connecticut
Valley, but it was not until 1636 that the Hartford Colony
under Hooker, and that under Pynchon, destined to locate at
a place higher up the Connecticut, turned westward from the
Bay settlements to found homes on the banks of the Connecti-
cut. William Pjmchon, the leader, and the founder of Spring-
field, who was one of the patentees of the grant to the Massa-
chusetts Bay Company, came over with Winthrop in 1630,
he settling at Eoxbury, where he remained four years, until he
removed to Agawam, the name given to what subsequently
became Springfield. He had secured special advantages, and
he went to the banks of the Connecticut to engage in the fur
trade as well as to found a town. It had become known in
the eastern settlements that along the streams running into
the Connecticut Eiver was an abundance of beaver, and the
monopoly of the trade which had been given him promised to
yield large and profitable returns. He was accompanied by
a small number of settlers. Only eight names were affixed to
the agreement made on May 14, 1636. These were William
Pynchon, Mathew Mitchell, Henry Smith, Jehu Burr, William
Blake, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford, and John Cable. This

agreement, under which the town was founded, is in the hand-
writing of Henry Smith, and is Still in a good state of preser-
vation in the office of the City Clerk. Pynchon, in his own
hand, closed the agreement which precedes the signatures with
the following: "We testifie to the ordr above said, being al
the first adventurers & subscribers for this plantation/^

Not one of the subscribers spent his life in Springfield,
and only a few of them remained longer than a few months.
Pynchon returned to England in 1652, and Henry Smith, who
was a son-in-law of Pynchon, and the son of his second wife
by her first marriage, went with him, or very soon afterward.
Jehu Burr, who was the ancestor of Aaron Burr, went to
Fairfield, Conn. William Blake returned to Dorchester, and
John Cable went to a Connecticut town. Mitchell, Wood and
Ufford remained only a short time.

Among the very earliest settlers was Joseph Parsons,
known to his many descendants by his military title of Cornet
Joseph. The public records of his day and contemporary
writings, still in existence, show that he was a man of un-
usual activity and force of character. Business enterprises
brought him into familiarity with the country for many miles
up and down the Connecticut River, which made his services
of more than ordinary value to those with whom he was as-
sociated, in both public and private concerns. He had the
courage and enterprise necessary at that time in a remote wil-
derness for the successful up-building of the towns which later
became important frontier settlements. Besides successfully
conducting his own affairs, he gave considerable time to public
business. He served on various boards of Selectmen, was
called to the business of establishing boundary lines and of
laying out important highways, and into the military service
when the towns were in great peril from the neighboring
Indians and their allies.

As yet no evidence has come to the writer of sufficient
authenticity to establish the precise time of his arrival in
Springfield, nor as to whether he remained a permanent set-
tler from the date of his first appearance up to the time of his
removal to Northampton in 1655, a year after that town was
founded. He was certainly in Springfield at a very early date.

Two months after the agreement to which Pynchon and his
associates aflBxed their signatures the lands on both sides of
the Connecticut, within a considerable distance of what is
now Springfield, were purchased of the Indians, and on July
15, 1636, the title was transferred by the Indians to Pynchon,
who secured it in behalf of the settlement. This deed bears
the signatures, as witnesses, of Joseph Parsons, John Allen,
Eichard Everett, Thomas Horton, Faithful Thayler, and John
Townes. In 1662, Joseph Parsons testified, ^t a court held
at Northampton, that he " was a witness to this bargain be-
tween Mr. Pynchon & the Indians." He was a young man
at this time — ^ten years before his marriage — and whether he
came with Pynchon from the Bay, or subsequently followed
him, or came from Windsor or Hartford, does not appear as
yet to be fully established. Of the other witnesses, Allen,
Thayler — this latter name evidently intended for Taylor —
and Townes did not remain, as there is no mention of them in
later records. From the time of his signing as a witness in
1636 up to 1646, Parsons^ name does not appear. During this
interval of ten years, whether he remained in Springfield or
was in a Connecticut town, are still matters of conjecture. In
1646 he was made a fence viewer with Thomas Merrick, the
year that he was married at Hartford. The birth of his first
three children, Joseph, Benjamin, and John, are not in the
Springfield records. The death of Benjamin is entered in
the following words: "Benjamin Parsons, ye son of Joseph
Parsons dyed ye 22 d. 4 mo. 1649." Henry Smith, the Town
Clerk, was distinguished for minuteness in details, and ap-
parently had unusual method in his transactions; and from
all the facts as yet brought to light it would appear that Joseph
Parsons did not remain long here between 1636 and 1646.
Unmarried men who had come to settle were early given land,
and their names appear as receiving grants, or as fence view-
ers, or highway surveyors, or constables. Yet, for all this
conjectural evidence to the contrary, he might have been a
resident of Springfield from the very first, but it would seem
that one so active and so useful could not have remained ten
years a silent witness and passed entirely unnoticed in the
records. Whether he was or was not is of little importance

in comparison with the service he rendered subsequently. He
was the first of his name alike in Springfield, and in New Eng-
land. The names of Hugh and Benjamin Parsons appear here
at a later date, and their relationship, if any, to Joseph Parsons
has been the subject of "discussion with different members of
the family. Colonel Chester, a distinguished antiquary in his
day, claimed that Hugh and Benjamin were brothers, and were
not nearly related, if at all, to Joseph. Later investigations
prove that Joseph and Benjamin were brothers, and no rela-
tionship with Hugh is established. The probabilities indicate
that he was not related to them.

William Pjmchon, the magistrate, began early to hunt for
witches, and Hugh Parsons and his wife Mary were the first
victims. Many of his towns-people were summoned before him
to give evidence. Their statements, taken down in Pynchon's
own hand, which are still extant, have an important bearing
upon the condition of the public mind at that period, showing
conclusively that the belief in witchcraft pervaded all classes,
and that the learned as well as the unlearned had brought to
New England the beliefs of the Old World. Out of these ex-
aminations came much gossip concerning witchcraft. The
wife of James Bridgman accused Joseph Parsons^s wife of be-
ing concerned in the same business, and out of these charges
Joseph Parsons brought a suit for slander. Benjamin Par-
sons was a witness, and in his evidence he refers to Joseph's
wife as " my sister '' and as ^^ sister Parsons.'* As to the re-
lationship which these expressions indicate there are other
proofs. When William Pynchon came he opened a store, from
which the settlers obtained their family supplies. When he
went to England it was left to his son John, who was energetic
in its management and had accounts with many living remote
from Springfield as well as those residing in the town. He
had extensive dealings with Joseph Parsons, and in one of
the entries of the accounts is this: (March 12, 1656) "To
Goodman Bissall I paid for you lOd more than I formerly ac-
counted & the wheate your Bro Benj delivered me I accounted
it J bushel to much." In 1658 there is another statement
in the accounts, which reads: ^^By so much I Eeceived of
your Brother Benjamin^ 12 shillings.'* The accounts from

which these are taken are still in the possession of the Spring-
field City Library, and no more conclusive evidence as to the
relationship of Joseph and Benjamin is needed to clear up a
matter about which a difference of opinion had latterly arisen
in some branches of the family.

Thomas Parsons was an eariy resident of Windsor, and
was married in 1641. He had a large family of children, but
heretofore nothing has been adduced to show that there was
any relationship between him and Joseph and Benjamin.

When our ancestors left England the whole of Europe was
but little more than an armed camp. Conflicts between con-
tending factions made certain military duties necessary, and
the military spirit prevalent in England was transferred to
these shores as soon as the newcomers began to get a foot-
hold. Training days, from the experience of the settlers, be-
came a necessity. Under date of November 14, 1639, as found
in the town records of Springfield, this entry was made: " It is
ordered that the exercise of trayning shall be practiced one
day in every month, and if occasions doe sometymes hinder,
then ye like space of tyme shall be observed another tyme
though it be 2 days after one another: And yt this tyme of
training is referred to ye discretion of Henry Smith who is
chosen by mutuall consent to be ye Serjant of ye Company,
who shall have power to choose a Corporall for his assistant,
and whosoever shall be absent himself e without a lawfuU ex-
cuse shall forfeit twelve pence, & yt all above 15 yeares of age
shall be counted for soldiers and the tyme to begin the first
Thursday in December next.'*

There is nothing left to show who were the rank and file
of the Springfield train-band, which corresponded in the ex-
ercises, in the equipment, and in officers to those in England
at that period. Pikes, in the absence of muskets, were used
in some parts of New England in the various exercises, and
those rude implements of warfare have sometimes figured in
the inventories of the estates of deceased persons. The mili-
tary service rendered by Joseph Parsons in the first years of
the settlement is not known, but it must have been in ac-
cordance with the established rules. A place was set apart,
at what is now the western end of Elm Street, in Springfield,

a few years after theuarrival of Pynchon, for a burjring-groxind,
and this also was used for many years for a training-field.
Joseph Parsons's title of Cornet dates from October 7, 1678,
shortly following the Indian disturbances in the Connecticut
Valley. Under that date the General Court made the fol-
lowing appointments: ^^ Leif tenant Philip Smith is appointed
lieutenant to the troop of horse, of Hampshire County, under
the command of Major John P3mchon, and Joseph Parsons
Senr to be cornet of said troop; and Ensigne Joseph Kellogg
leiutenant for ye foot company in Hadley." Smith and Kel-
logg were both residents of Hadley. This appointment of
Joseph Parsons made him the color-bearer in the Hampshire
cavalry, the third officer in command, corresponding at that
time with that of ensign in the infantry or foot company.
A military office was one of esteem, and gave those thus hon-
ored more than ordinary distinction. It showed to some ex-
tent the standing in the community of those who were placed
in command, and their titles were afterward used in all records
made concerning them. It is probable that Joseph Parsons
had been actively engaged with Pynchon during the various at-
tacks upon the settlements, in Hampshire County, in defence
of those whose homes had become insecure after the ferocity
of the savages had been thoroughly aroused.

" Before proceeding further, let us take a glimpse of the
country to which our ancestors had come. When Pynchon
and his little company emerged from the primeval woods
through which they had threaded their way from the bay
to the Connecticut, there was one vast wilderness stretching
westward from the sea to the shores of the Pacific, with the
slight exception of the unimportant settlements made by the
Dutch colony along the Hudson. Bordering the Connecticut
in various places there were open fields, made bare of timber
by frequent inundations and by fires which were kindled
annually by the Indians. These open spaces made clearing
of the forests at the very beginning unnecessary, and the
cultivation of the soil was begun at once under more favor-
able circumstances than attended the labors of the pioneers
of Western New York, Ohio, and Michigan, where a genera-
tion passed away before there was more than the rudest com-

forts for those who had xmdertaken to subdue the forests.
These open fields extended along only the river bottoms, and
these at first were sparingly divided among every comer who
was regarded as one who would make a desirable citizen.
Character and capacity for making one^s self independent of
aid from the town were the only requisites necessary. These
were exacted, and the town^s proceedings show that many
of those who became permanent inhabitants gave bonds to
secure the town from liability of their becoming a public
charge from lack of ability to make themselves self-support-
ing. No one was permitted to harbor a stranger, and unde-
sirable comers were not infrequently warned to depart from
the town for many years after the first settlement was begun.
Idlers and dissolute persons found no favor at the hands of
the stem moralists who had crossed the Atlantic to found
communities based on the principles for which they had been
persecuted by intolerant authorities in Church and State.

Joseph Parsons married Mary Bliss, daughter of Thomas and
Margaret Bliss, at Hariford, Ct., November 26, 1646. Her par-
ents were bom in England, her father being the son of Thomas
Bliss of Belstone Parish in Devonshire. Thomas and Mar-
garet had ten children, six of whom were born in England.
Thomas died at Hartford in 1640, and at some period subse-
quently Widow Margaret moved to Springfield. Four of her
sons, Nathaniel, Lawrence, Samuel and John, the latter the
youngest of the family, also became residents of the town.
In 1647 a rate was made for raising £30 for the purchase of
the lands of the Plantation. Nathaniel Bliss, who was here
at that time, was credited with having 51J acres, and his rate
or tax was 7s 9d. The names of his mother and brothers do
not appear in the list. Joseph Parsons, whose name appears
for the first time in relation to being a land owner, was
included in this list of 42 persons, among whom were three
widows. Joseph held 42| acres and his rate was lis 9d. He
probably resided in that part of Springfield which is now
within the limits of Longmeadow. If not, he must have gone
there not long afterwards. The Book of Possessions, still in
existence and in the custody of the City Clerk of Springfield,
the entries of which were made by Henry Smith, prior to bis

returning to England in rSCZ, stSteff! '' Joseph Parsons is
possessed of a parcell of land in the Long meddow that his
house stands on, bought of Alexander Edwards, being part of
his lott, viz: in Breadth 10 rod, length 28 rod. Bounded
South by y® mill-lot. North by George Colton/^

His other holdings of lands at that time are giA^en below: —

" Also in the Long meddow Eighteen acres, more or less.
Breadth 40 rod. Length extending from the East to the fence.
Bounded North by James Bridgman. South by George
Colton.

More, bought of George Langton five acres of meddow,
more or less. Breadth 12 rod. Length 67 rod. Bounded
North by Nath. Bliss. South by Widdow Bliss.

Also four acres of meddow. Breadth 10 rod. Length 69
rod, out of which he hath sold Alexander Edwards 10 rod in
breadth & 28 in Length, soe the Length of this lott is 49 rod
from the river East. Bounded North by Widdow Bliss, South
by Jonathan Taylor.

In the back side of the Long meddow four acres, more or
less, w^^ is in Lue of his 3* division Lott over Agawam
river, resigned into y® Townes hand. Bounded North by
Widdow Bliss, South by George Colton.

Over Agawam river five acres more or less, in the 2d divi-
sion. Breadth 10 rod. Length from y® river extending west
80 rod. Bounded North by Thomas Tomson. South by Jona-
than Taylor.''

Under date of May 12th, 16^:7, the recorder states: "All
these several parcels of Land are by Joseph Parsons sold &
for ever passed away to John Stebbins & by him y® sd John
Stebbins is passed away to Eichard Fellows of Hartford."
These lands were probably sold some time previous to this
entry, when Joseph went to Northampton. Another entry
of land is given below; date of purchase not stated: — ^^ George
Colton and Joseph Parsons are possessed of a lott in the Long
meddow by purchase from Mr. William Pjmchon, which was
formerly part of the allotments belonging to y® mill, viz:
Twenty five acres, more or less. The Breadth is 26 rod, the
length 160. Bounded North by Alexander Edwards, South
by Eoger Prichard and Benjamin Cooley/'

This last was probably purchased at or near the time when
Pynchon in 1652 went back to England. The above pieces
of land are all that Joseph Parsons owned at one time, prior
to his removal to Northampton, and the greater part had
come to him by purchase rather than by grants from the town,
as the larger share of the holdings had to the other residents.
The comparatively few grants, and most of those in the 2d and
3d divisions, which were made to Joseph would seem to indi-
cate that he had not been a constant resident of the town.

The first official position held by him in Springfield was
that of highway surveyor. At a Town Meeting held January
8, 1646, the following entry was made in the records of the
transactions of that day: —

'^ Thomas mirack and Joseph Parsons are chosen surveyors
to make the way fro: y® mill river to y® long meddowe, who shall
have power to call to y® work, & in case any P^son shall refuse
to come to y® work, having had 3 days warninge before hand,
shall be lyable to pay 2s 6d fine, except that they can alledge
such an excuse as y® magistrate shall judge to be sufficient;
alsoe they are to see this way finished by y® end of May next:
alsoe if they give 3 days warninge to teames and they come
not to y® worke they shall be lyable to a fine of 5s for defects,
except y® magistrate shall allow of they^ excuse.

Nov: 2^, 1646. The same surveyers voted to continue jr®
worke and finish it by y® last of May, 1647, & in case y® sur-
veyers be defective In finishing by y* day they are to pay 10s
Pr weeke for every weeke after y® day appointed."

This highway is in part the same as now follows near the
Connecticut river towards the village of Longmeadow, only
at that time the settlement was on the meadow not far from
the present railway station at Longmeadow. After that loca-
tion was abandoned and the home lots located on the high
ground to the eastward, the southern part of the highway was
changed to its present position.

November 5, 1650, " Joseph Parsons and John Clarke are
chosen overseers of the fences from y® meeting house down-
ward, who are to take direction from y® Townsmen for order-
ing these fences." In this connection it may be of interest
to note that the first mention of Joseph^s brother Beniamin

in the town records is concerning his election to the same
office. At the annual town meeting November 4, 1651,
"James Bridgman & Benjamin Parsons are chosen veiwers
of y® fences for y® lower end of y® Towne."

The following year, at the annual meeting, Joseph Parsons
was for the first time elected to the office of Selectman, a
position of great honor and trust in those far-away days, and
especially for a young man just entering upon a busy career
in his own affairs. The terms Selectmen and Townesmen,
refer to the same office. Frequently they are termed Select
Townesmen in the records. They were regarded as capable
and trustworthy citizens who would give faithful service, and
were selected for their recognized fitness, and hence has come
the name of Selectmen of New England townships, the high-
est offices in the gift of the people for the conduct of their
own public affairs within the town. To show who served on
the board with him the following is quoted: —

" November 2, 1652. At a Towne meeting It was Con-
cluded to make choice of Seven Townsmen for y« yeare en-
suing, viz: John Pynchon, Samuel Chapin, George Colton,
Henry Burt, Benjamin Cooley, Thomas Stebbins, Joseph
Parsons.^'

" Nov. 22, 1652. Two of these Townsmen being swome
Commissioners for y® Towne of Springfield were discharged
fro: Townsmen & so y® work rests upon y® last five: To whom
by y® joint Consent of y® Plantation is Given full power to
order all y® prudentail affaires of y® Towne & to distribute
Land this yeare & to act according to what is expressed in y®
Court orders: These to continue in this place for a year or
till new be chosen.^*

" Court orders,^^ refers to the law established by the General
Court in reference to Selectmen. John Pynchon, Dea. Sam-
uel Chapin and Elizur Holyoke were appointed in the preced-
ing October Commissioners, or justices, to hear and " end
small causes,^* and this was the reason for the withdrawal of
Pynchon and Chapin from the board* Of this board, George
Colton became known later to his descendants as " Quarter-
master George Colton.^' Henry Burt was the ancestor of all
bearing that family name in the Connecticut Valley. He was

on the first board of Selectmen and held the office of Clerk
of the Writs from 1649 to his death in 1662. Benjamin
Cooley was prominent in town affairs, and Thomas Stebbins
was later known as Lieut. Thomas Stebbins, a son of Eowland
Stebbins, who was one of the first settlers of both Springfield
and Northampton. Joseph Parsons was for five terms a Se-
lectman at Northampton and again for one year in Spring-
field^ on his return from his residence in Northampton, which
indicates that his services as a public officer were held in high
demand and regard.

At the town meeting November 1, 1653, ^^ Joseph Parsons
& Miles Morgan were chosen surveyors of the highways for
the year ensuing.^^ This was the last time he held public of-
fice before removing to Northampton. Clocks were unknown
to the first settlers of Springfield, and we find in the trans-
actions of the Selectmen at a meeting held February 10, 1653,
that it was voted to give " Joseph Parsons 13 shillings for an
houre glass.^^ It is probable that this hour glass was to note
the passing of time during the religious services at the meet-
ing house on Sundays, or at public gatherings on other occa-
sions.

It would appear that Joseph Parsons at or about the time
he moved to Northampton in 1655, had begun trade with the
Indians. His accounts were opened with John Pynchon in
1652. For several years afterwards his purchases at the Pyn-
chon store indicate that they were mostly family supplies,
articles needed in his own household. Later a large share of
them were evidently intended for trade, and it is also evident
that his trade to some extent was extended to the settlers as
well as to the Indians. " Blew Trading cloth ^' was evidently
largely exchanged with the Indians for Beaver and other
skins, and most likely other items mentioned in these accounts
were also exchanged with them for such products as they had
for sale or barter. Wampum, largely made by the settlers [
from shells of the sea-shore, were disposed of to the Indians,
and for many years served a good purpose in New England dur-.
ing the absence of a currency that had greater intrinsic value/,
but which disappeared like the fiat money of later times when
our commercial transactions concerned the world beyond our

own snrroTuidings. Pynchon^s special privileges gave him
great advantage over every other settler. While they toiled
in the fields and in the woods^ his time was devoted to getting
gain through the channels of trade. The Beaver and other
skins which he bought were sent to England and there turned
into cash. The wheat, peas and Indian com were taken down
to Warehouse Point or Hartford, and there sent aroimd in
sailing vessels to Boston, where they found a market. The
first agreement that Pynchon made with Parsons for the Ind-
ian trade is copied from the Pynchon account books, and is as
follows: —

"August 24, 1657. Agreed with Joseph Parsons for y«
trade of N"olwotog & thence up the Eiver, for which he is to
allow for this yeare ensuing y® Sum of Twelve pounds to be
p^ in Bever. Y* winter Bever at Ss pr lb, y^ spring at 9*, & I
am to furnish him w"^ Trading cloth at 7s 6d pr yd, & w^
shag cotton at 3s 7d pr yd, & to take of his Bever at 8s pr lb
y® winter Bever, & y® Spring Bever at 9s pr lb, excepting the
stag Bever & small skins, w®^ I am to take at such price as wee
can agree at, & in case of not agreeing, y* is to say, if I cannot
yield to his price for y® stag & small skins, then he is at liberty
to pay to me so much wheate as ye stag Bever comes to in leu
thereof, he being otherwise ingaged to pay unto me all his
Bever & likewise otter & musquashes.^'

Another agreement was made with John Webb concern-
ing the trade at Nolwotog on " behalf of Joseph Parsons,*' as
PjTQchon states, but for some reason this was cancelled, for
Pynchon writes underneath it " Void.'' It is here, however,
given in full: —

" Sept^ Ist, 1657. Agreed with John web on y« behalf of
Joseph Parsons: y* he, y® John web, shal give foure poimds
this year comeing for his liberty to trade at Nolwotogg, he
being furnished from Joseph Parsons w*^ 200 yds of trading
cloth, or 250 yds at 7s 9d, & 60 or 80 yds of Cottons at 3s 9a
pr yd, w*^ a proportionable quantity of wampum & other
smal things for trade, & cloth is to be marked out by mee,
for John web, & of y* cloth Joseph is to let web have his
quantity. And John web Ingages to pay all the Bever, otters
& furs w®^ he receives to mee or to Joseph Parsons, y® winter

Bever at 7s 9d pr lb, & spring Bever at 8s 9d, stag Bever,
walsis excepted, w^ is to be paid at such prices as Mr. Pyn-
chon shall accept/'

Nolwotog, was one of the Indian names of Northampton,
but Nonotuck was more frequently used and has come down
to us as the name in general use when that region was bought
of the Indians. John Pynchon's orthography was never con-
sistent with itself, and the same might in some instances be
said of his book-keeping. His accounts often show that he
made mistakes, sometimes in his own favor, but about as likely
to be against himself. His ^^ walsis '' finds no explanation in
our modem dictionaries, and may have been a word of John
Pynchon's own coining. If it refers to small and less valua-
ble skins the kind is not known.

In 1657 Pynchon reduced the price to £3 to Joseph Par-
sons for the Beaver trade, and " I premise not to give or allow
liberty to any more trade than to Edward Elmer/^ This
privilege was renewed for several years, the price varying from
£2 5s to £3 10s for each year.

That the Pynchon accounts may be more easily understood
it may be well to state that his abbreviations and contractions
were generally in accordance with the practices of his time.
The orthography belongs to Pynchon. W stood for white,
ye for the, y* for that, and y™ for them. The foundation of
these contractions is in the Saxon character resembling the
letter " y,*' which stood for '' th.^' Some of the other abbre-
viations used in these accounts to the casual reader are mis-
leading. Wherever the letter ^^ Q:" precedes a Surname, as in
G: Bliss, or in G: Parsons, it stands for " Goodman.*' * The
use of Mister and Mistress seldom occurs in the writings of that
time, only applying to people of distinction, or so regarded
by the recorders who have saved to descendants what is known
of the people who were the first to come to New England, f

* ** €k)odman, goodwife ; applied to the master and mistress of a
house, implying some degree of respect." (Stormonth.) ''The
goodman of the house." (Matt. xxiv. 43.)

t '* Our Northampton forefathers lived in a simple democracy. A
very few only were distinsrnished by civil titles. Ministers, school-
teachers, Jnstice Joseph Parsons, and Lieutenant William Clark had
the honorable title of " Mr." (President Dwight : •• Strong Family.")

These accounts^ which extend over the greater part of
Joseph Parsons* more active years, and during his commercial
relations with the Indians, indicate his own progress in what
was a most successful business career. His steady advance-
ment in acquiring wealth is well illustrated in these purchases
of Pynchon. His indebtedness to him frequently exceeded
what would now be more than $3,000. Then, too, the large
dealings in Beaver, Otter and Moose skins, for so many years
unknown in the Connecticut Valley, carry us back to a very
primitive period, making in some degree an almost forgotten
past a reality to us.

The originals of these accoimts are in a fair state of pres-
ervation and can be seen in the City Library at Springfield.

Page 91
Joseph Parsons Dr.

Septbr 1st 1652

Due to mee in my old booke 01 00 08

1 pr large wt Cotton stock 00 02 06

1 pr knit 00 04 02

1 yd ^ holland at 3s 4d 00 04 02

% yd Va qr at 6s 8d 04 02 02

Vz yd *^ qr at 9s 6d 00 06 00

1 yd % Scot at 2s 7d 00 03 lO^^

l^ Lockr Is 6d 00 01 06

4— col. Thrid 2 — ^wted browne 00 00 04

6 yds Manchester binding 00 00 07^

1000 Pins 16d 1 Pa 5d 00 01 09

1 knot of tape 00 01 01

1 yd of wt fustion at 18d 00 01 06

3d yds of wt Cotton at 3s 4d 00 10 00

6 yds of wt fillet & 8 laces 00 01 05

1 knife 12d 00 01 00

9 yds of Eed sh. Cotton at 4s 01 16 00

3 sc. of fC thrid 3d 00 00 03

2 knives 16d 2 knives 2s 00 03 04

1 doz of Points 4d % 00 00 04y3

4 yds of Rib. at 7d 4 yds at 6d 00 04 04

Needles 2d a Kemnant of fustion 18d 00 01 08

2 lb of Powder 4s 61b of-Hshot 4 lb Bullets 00 07 04

Septbr 15 1652

You are to pay for Tho. Gun 00 16 09

2 yds % of greene kersy at 5s 6d 00 12 02

100 of Needles 00 03 00

1 Q of Pap .* 00 00 06

a Cord DO 01 04

1 yd & y, of greene kersj 00 08 03

3 yds of sackiDg at 14d 00 03 OS

2 yds of Red Cotton at Ss lOd 00 07 08

a warming Pan 00 10 00

% lb of taorsespice 00 06 03

5 oz of CiDamoD. 00 01 01

pd for you to liro Davja 00 07 08

3 yda & i/j of wt shag Cot at 3a 00 10 04

a sc of alike 2d 1 yd yellow Tamy 00 02 071^

2 yda ^4 of flanel 00 06 07^4

Pd for you to O: Brancb for 00 05 00

100 nayles 00 00 11

500 of nayles at lid 00 04 07

300 at 4d pr lb 00 01 OO

300 at 5d 00 01 03

1 Ell wt bone lace 00 02 OO

1000 Pina 16d 1 Pap 4d 00 01 08

Pd your wolfe Rate 1651 00 04 00

pd yoBr Countrey Kate 1653 00 06 07

6 aulea 9 Needles 00 00 10

1000 pins 00 01 04

■ % & Nayle of searge 00 02 08

5 Pilla 00 00 10

2 lb Shot 00 00 08

pd for you to Wm Branch 04 00 00

Due for Smithery worke 00 16 00

Sharpening a share 00 00 03

17 03 08

Beced 31 buab % of wheat at 3a lOd 06 01 08

Beced by bringing up Vi Tun of goods with G: Mirick

In October last 16S2 your halfe is 00 03 06

Becd 373/3 of wheat at 3b lOd for ye Purchase & to acot

here 25 bush ^ 04 17 09

Becd by Carrying down ye ffalla 61 bush Come 01 00 04

Beced by carting downe to ye foote of y« 40 buah of

wheate at 3d per bush 00 10 00

12 13 03
1S53

Acoted St, Bests due to mee 04 10 OS

And for John Porter you are to pay me 00 10 00

all is 05 00 OS

BecelTed O: Wariner Bill for Mr. Moxom £Z ea Od

BeceWed hy Mr. Horshfords BUI to Mr. Mozon. . . 13 10

To JoBeph Parsoua

Page 92

June 8th 16S3

2 qaia & 1 Pint Of vfnegor M 01 lOy,

1 pr childr Stockena 00 0102

Beating due to mee on je other side 01 00 10

clouts for jon cart & mend, a Cops Ring 00 01 06

for Q: Thomas Caunoe ye first Toyadge down you

have not allowed for 00 03 00

Shutting a staple 00 00 02

2 quta of vinegar 00 01 06

1 pr shag Htockens 00 03 06

1 knife 7d 1 C naylcs 3d 00 00 10

Shooing a horse 00 01 02

1 lb of Powder 2s 6 lb shot 3s 1 awl Id 00 OS 01

1 bush of Bowre apples 3s 4d y^ bush apples 2b 00 05 04

2 hats Gs & Gs 8d 00 13 08

3 yds blew linen at 18d 00 04 OS

1 Tunnell 00 00 06

2 pr Htockens 00 02 00

Z pr Btockens 00 02 00

by Tho Stebbins you to pay 00 00 06

Needles ed hooke & eys 4d 1 pee tape 12d 00 01 10

4 knives 2b Sd 1 Q Pap 00 03 00

pd for you to Wm Brooks woli you are to pay mee in

wheats 01 13 06

3 yds Va qr Eersy at 3s lid 00 12 03

a hat 01 00 06

4 knives 00 04 00

B yds canvas 00 17 00

4 yds % red kerfey at 5s 8d 01 06 11

3 yds V, scarlet beys at Ss 4d 01 12 OB

cotton rib Benja. took up for Holcomb 00 03 00

Novembr 14th (53)
pd for you to Wm Brookes wch you Ingage to pay me

in ys Spring inwheatc 02 05 00

1000 hobs 3s 4d 6 awls 5d 00 03 10

2000 pins 2b 6d 1 paper pins Sd 00 03 01

4 yds red sh. cotton at 3s Sd 00 14 08

4 yd wt cotton at 3s 4d 00 10 00

2 doz points 9d 1 pr slssars 6d pr lid 00 02 02

2 Combs 16d a tin botUe 12d 00 02 01

4 yds cotton rib 16d 200 bobs 8d 1000 pins 16di 00 03 04

6 doz tbrid buttons 12d 2 yds ^ linnen 2s 00 07 03

2 pr stockens for 6: Bliss 00 02 06

% lb Peper 2 thimbles 00 01 07

1 pint bottle 2s 1 pint brandy 00 03 06

2 lb coppris 00 00 08

16 04 06

Becd in wampam 00 19 03

Becd by Wm Brookes 00 17 00

01 16 03

Deer 2d 1653

Acoted & is due to me 14 08 03

making a pr binges 4d new booke 5d 00 00 09

a staple 00 00 09

pd for you 00 00 09

1000 wormseed 00 01 06

600 hob nailes 00 02 00

you are to pay me for G: Merick 00 07 00

Tou are to pay me g: S ; 00 06 00

you are to pay me for G: Lyman 01 00 00

you are to pay me for G: Lyman Edwards 02 05 00

you are to pay for G: Cooper 00 03 06

18 14 09

Kceived 13 bushs & almost a peck of wheate at 3s 8d. . 02 09 00
Beceived 57 bush at ye falls 39 bush of it 4s per bush

18 bush 3s lOd 03 08 06

06 07 00
Beced by carting this 57 bush 00 09 06

April 3d 1654

Acoted & rests due to mee 06 07 00

Se page 204

Page 204
Joseph Parsons Br

August 9th 1654

To 3 yds of wt fustion at 21d 00 05 03

3000 of Pins 1 pap 4d 00 04 04

i jd8 i4 Yi of blew linnen 14d 00 03 02

2 yds It lockmn at 3b 6d 00 07 00

4 laces & 6 points 00 00 10

2 pees tape 00 02 05

1 yd ^ greene Say at 68 Sd 00 08 04

2 pr wt Stock at 17d 00 02 05

2 pr stock at 13d 00 02 02

3 yds fl lockram at 3b Id 00 09 03

6 yds red penistone at 4a 2d 01 05 00

6 leather pointe 00 00 06

2 pr Btockens at Ud 00 01 10

3 knives a.t8d& 1 knite 7d 00 02 07

1 yd holland 00 04 06

4 yd .& nayt bolland at 12b 00 03 09

1 yd lockram 20d 00 01 08

1 yd % greene shag at 38 Sd 01 08 01 V^

3 8C fl tlirid 00 00 03

4 yds wt cotlon at 3s 7d 00 14 04

18 yds cot Tib 00 03 00

2— wi "br thrd 4 ac ft thrid 6 yda bg 00 02 00

1 comi) 8d 3 pr aiaaara 2 thimbia 00 02 01

1 pr atockeuB 00 02 00

3 yds yellow peniston 00 12 08

12 jda cotton rib 00 02 00

6 yds wt cotton at 38 7d 00 05 04%

2 doz of hookes & eyes OO 00 08

1 pr atockens 00 03 00

1 pr atockena 00 04 02

% yd of greene ahagg 00 OS 08

6 yds cotton rib 00 01 06

1 lb Powder 00 02 04

6 yds of blanket at Bs 6d pr yd 02 11 00

IB ac silk 2 yds % greene rib 00 03 06

8 yds gallome 2 doz buttons ISd 00 04 02

1 hat 18s 00 18 00

1 yd "4 & Vj qrof kersy at Ss 9d 00 14 03

1 yd % greene cotton 48 6d 00 04 06

1 lb Powder 28 4d 00 02 04

2 lb Allom 12d 2 lb copperis Bd 00 01 OB

2 yds blew cotton Os 4d 00 06 04

300 doble tens 6b 00 06 00

6 yds ^ gallome Is lOd Needles 7d 00 02 05

1 pr BisHara 00 00 05

1000 hobs 00 03 04

3 yds red cotton DO 09 06

1 Q Pap 00 00 06

1 Comb 00 00 08

1 BU binding 00 00 01%

6 lb Sugar 00 05 00

more, 6 lbs Sugar 00 05 00

1 lb Pepper 00 02 04

1 qt ot vinei^r 00 00 09

In Page 92 ie 12 15 07

29 11 08

Reced 9 lb of Sever at 10b i£ lOs; S lb at 9s 3 £ 14;

4 lb ^ at 8a 1£ 188 09 02 00

June 14th 1655 Acota & reeto due to me 20 10 00

posted to p. 249

Page 248
JoBeph PaTBOns Dr

June llth 1655

to 11 yds of wt trading clotb at 8s 04 08 00

to 7 yds of blew doth at 8b 02 16 00

9 yds Vi of red ahag cotton at 3s lOd 01 IS 06

125 mackrill hookee 00 02 08

1 C (100) Needles 00 01 08

5 doz awles at lOd p doz 00 04 02

2 brass lioxes wtb glasses at ITd 00 02 10

% doz "brass tobacco boxes at lOs 00 05 00

% doz tin boxes at 4b 00 02 00

6 waste coates at 7b lOd 02 07 00

3 Shurts at 7e 4d 01 02 00

a psell of wampam 06 11 00

a Bieth 00 04 OS

6 lb Sugar 00 05 00

July 17th (55)
49 yds of blew trading cloth at 7s 6d pr yd , 18 07 06

August 2d (55)

M yds of red shag Cotton at 3b Bd pr yd 09 18 00

3 waste coafea at 7s lOd 01 03 06

3 lbs of Powder 2b 4d 00 07 04

16 lb of shot 00 05 04

6 brass boxes wtb glasses at 17d 00 08 06

6 brass boxes at lOd 00 05 00

6 prof large Sissars at 5b 6d pr doz 00 02 09

1 doz of smale aiasars 00 04 00

4 doz Points at 5d » » , . 00 01 08

6 caps 00 15 00

2 doz of wood boxes at 8s here is 8s set to much wch

is abated on ye accot 00 16 00

1 doz of brass boxes wfli glasse at 18s 00 18 00

To charges of your wheate I sent to Boston for you wc

I Pd 00 09 00

119 04 05

Joseph Parsons Cr.

August 10 1655

By 14 lb of Bever at 10s pr lb 07 00 00

By 10 lbs & y^ at 9s pr lb 04 12 03

October 31 1655

By 8 l^ lb of Bever at 10s 03 02 06

4 & l^ lb of Bever at 9s 00 02 06

14 lbs Bever at 4s 02 16 00

12 lb musquash 00 06 00

2 otters 00 19 00

by 34 bushs & ^ of wheate, ye rest I had was sent

for you to Boston 06 06 00

by 20 lb cheese 00 10 00

by 38 lb of Butter 00 19 00

posted below 28 11 03

Joseph Parsons Dr.

To so much due to me in page 204 20 10 00

To the other side 119 04 05

To 1 doz red tape 00 14 00

4 bunches wt tape at 16d 00 05 04

1 gross of thrid points 00 05 00

1 C of needles '. 00 02 00

6 brass Tobacco pipes 00 07 00

10 yds of red shag cotton at 01 18 06

32 yds of Blew Trading cloth 12 16 00

1 Q of Paper 00 00 06

6 doz of knives at 6d 01 16 00

1 yd ^ of Canvas at 6s 00 09 00

200 of doble Tens 00 04 00

12 yds of wt shag Cotton at 38 9d 02 05 00

2 doz ft 3 knives at 6b 00 13 OS

1 pee o( red Tradjng cloth « y, yds at 8b 17 08 10

wt trading cloth, 20 yds at 7b 8d 11 03 04

2 yds of kersy at 1(W 01 00 00

e brass boxes wtb glasses at 18b 00 09 00

3 doz grt silk buttons OOOS OS

3 doz for adoblet 00 01 06

12 so of silke 00 02 03

10 yds of red shag at 3s 9d 02 17 06

3000 pins 00 04 00

20 Lb PovwJer at 2s 4d 02 06 08

1 gilt Bible 00 07 00

1 doz hookes ft Eyes 00 00 04

% yd canvas 2s 00 02 00

1 yd V& lock ram 8d 00 02 03

Sept. 21, 16SS

IS yds of wt trading cldfE at Sb pr yd 06 08 DO

15 yds 1^ of blew clotb at 8a 06 04 00

33 yds % of red shag cotton at 33 lOd 06 06 06

12 yds of wt Bbag Cotton at 3s 9d 02 05 00

3 doz of knives at fle 00 18 00

2 knives Bs 00 02 00

900 of Naylea 00 05 00

500 at I4d pr C 00 05 10

200 doble Tens 00 04 00

Thrid 00 03 00

1 doz awle blades at lOd 00 OS 00

2 doz of glass boxes in wood at 16s 01 12 00

1 doz of wood boxes at Sb 00 16 00

1 yd of Searge at 7s 6d 00 13 03

e waste coateB 02 07 00

3 yds Vi of wt Trading clotb at 8s 01 08 00

mbr 26tli 1855 In wampam by O; Thomas 00 08 04

1 pr stockens 3s 4d 1 pr Is 8d 00 OS 00

1 pr stockens 00 04 OS

2 pr 00 04 04

1 pr 00 01 03

Ihat81s6d 1 hat 20s 12d 02 02 06

4 yds % & y, of red Searge at Ss 6d 01 19 04

3 pr Cot Stockens 00 07 06

2 sc. silke 1 comb 00 01 01

2 yds red cotton 00 07 08

3 yds V, of red shag 00 14 00

10 grss of Pipes at 8s 6d 04 05 00

Fd for you to Goodm: Bissall 00 07 00

Pd for you to John Gilbert 00 06 00

178 19 07
Beceived as above 28 11 03

So Bests due to mee 150 03 04
posted over ye leafe to yt side on ye right hand p. 250

Joseph Parsons Dr

ToAccot made up ye 21st of December 1655 for

Severall paiculars as in Page 249 £ 140 00 04

8 doz of thrid buttons at 2d, 3 doz pev^ter 3d 00 02 01

% Vz greene Cotton 00 01 05

fPebr 27th 1655— (6?)

To 30 yds of trading Cloth at 8s 12 00 00

6 yds of v^t shag cotton at 3s lOd 01 13 00

6 doz of points at 5d 00 02 06

6 doz of pewter buttons at 3d 00 01 06

6 V7t v^ast coates at 6s 02 08 00

2 made Coates at 18s « 01 16 00

1 doz of smale sissars 00 04 00

6 pr large sissars • . ^ ■, 00 02 06

3 caps 00 07 06

1 Pap. booke , 00 00 10

March 12th

15 yds & ^ of trading cloth at 8s 06 02 00

To Goodm: Bissall I pd for you lOd more than I
formerly acotd & the v^heate your Bro Benj dlred
(delivered) me I acoted it % a bushel to much.. 00 02 08

2 lb of Steele 2s, 1 lb of Pov^der 2s 4d 00 04 04

2 yds of Cotton ribban 00 00 04

May 15th 1656

To 48 yds of v^t Trading cloth at 8s 19 04 00

56 yds & % of blew Trading cloth at 8s 22 12 00

one wt Coate of Thick cloth & broad stripes 00 17 00

2 made Coates at 18s 01 16 00

12 wast coates at 8s... ^ 04 16 00

6 caps 00 15 00

1 dOz of brass boxes wth glasses 00 18 00

4 doz thrid buttons 00 00 08

5 yds of wt shag Cotton at 3s lOd 00 12 00

57 yds V& of red nape Cotton at 3s 9d 10 14 02

June 13th 1656

to 20 yds of blew Trading cloth 08 00 00

6 yds of wt trading cloth 02 08 00

6 greatwaste coates at 8s pr wastecoate 02 08 00

2 Coates at 18s 01 16 00

4 pees of tape at 14d « 00 04 08

pd for your to D: Ashley 01 11 06

1 lb Ginger 8d 1 lb starch 9d 00 01 05

262 13 05

Beceived hjt a psell of Beaver Summed up a little

below to ye Sum of 191 06 06

July 22 1656
Acoted & rests due to mee...« 07 06 11

July 23 (56)

To 27 yds of blew trad, cloth at 8s 10 16 00

30 yds of wt shag cotton at 3s lOd 05 15 00

24 yds of red Cotton at 3s lOd 04 12 00

remanants of cotton & Trad, cloth 01 08 06

4 waste coates at 8s 01 12 00

To a psell of wampum 04 00 00

1 C (100) of Needles 00 01 08

1 C (100) of hookes 00 02 00

10 doz of points 00 03 04

July 22th 1 knife 4 pr sissars & 1000 of Pins 00 02 07

(Bottom of page in the Account Book cut out)

Page 250
Joseph Parsons Dr.

To 28 yds of blew Trading cloth at 8s 11 04 00

29 yds of wt Trading cloth at 8s 11 16 00

30 shirts at 6s 09 00 00

3 quire of Pap 00 01 09

10 pr of Cotton Stockens at 22d 01 13 00

52 yds of wt cotton at 3s 8d 09 10 08

122 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 10s 23 07 08

25 yds of blew Trading cloth at 8s 10 00 00

23 yds % of blew Trading cloth 8s 10 00 00

24 yds Va of blew 09 16 00

23 yds or blew 09 04 CM)

24 yds 09 12 00

43 yds of blew Trad, cloth at 8a 18 00 00

31 yds of red Trad, cloth at 88 12 08 00

SO yds of red 12 00 00

16 yds 1^ of wt dofCeild at 8s 06 12 00

18 yds of wt 07 08 00

12 yds of wt 04 16 00

33 yds ^ of wt 13 08 00

28 yds % 11 10 OO

16 yds ^4 of btlbomgryat lla 8d 09 12 06

20 doz of inivesat 6d 06 00 00

5 doz of smnle siBsars at 38 8d 1 doz Ss 00 16 00

12 doz of looking: glasses at 4s 02 08 00

1 Soz at brass glassea 00 18 00

12 peces of wt tape at ITd p S pea of red A 6 of wt at

14d 01 11 00

6 pes of cotton binding 00 08 00

TIieM ^ P** "' Manchester 000308

gDOdi 3 — of cott. thrid at 5s 6 of of— bro. at 6«. . . . 01 17 00

ooming 18,000 of Fins 01 04 00

to28« 2 grae pewter buttons at 2s 8d 00 05 04

f»Sl bunch of silk 00 03 00

ioftll 23 yds of Keray at 7a 8d 08 16 04

7«rest 3 canvas sutes 01 10 00

^ 20 yds y, of atone grey kersy at 7b lOd 08 00 07

^' 31 yds of redkersy at 6b lOd 06 02 06

10 waste coates at Ss 04 00 00

12 caps at 2b 6d 01 10 00

Coats at ISb 02 14 00

2S8 12 07

on y« other side is 100 00 00

more on y* other aide at ye bottom of ye leate is. . . . 024 IS 07

383 12 07

JOBeph Faraona of Nolwoto^ Dr

To 11 yds of red shag Cot 021 06 05

114 yda Vt of »' shag 020 10 04

52 yda of wt napt cot 09 06 04

106 yds % of red ehag- cot 19 01 08

18 yds % of red napt Cot, 3a 7d pr yd 03 05 05

48 yds % of blewdnffeild at 7b 8d pr yd 18 03 09

48 yds Of blew (lufTeild at 7a 6d 18 00 00

SO yda of wt duSeild at 78 6d 07 10 00

47 yda VI «d dnffelld at 7s 6d 17 16 03

34 jds 14 of blew duffeUd at Ts 6d IS 16 11

1 pee of kersy 04 08 00

22 yds of Pmk Peniatou at 4b 9d OS 04 06

a psen of traatcoats, Fetticotes & QouDds 35 00 00

3 cbildrena hata at Ta 4d 01 02 DO

1 hat 23b 1 hat 2fl B 02 13 00

1 pee of kerey 06 10 00

9 ydaof Packing Canvaa 00 11 00

2 ropea 00 0106

October 13th 1657.

4 gras of Points «,t4H p graa 2 graa at Gb 01 06 00

3 doz of glasses ID wood frame at 38 00 06 00

3 doz of Tin box glasses at 3s 00 09 00

ii doz of booke gliiases 00 06 06

400 of ordinary needles at 20d per 100 100 4s 00 10 08

18 scale ring's Qs 2 doz of hoop rings at Ss 00 19 00

^ dozof woat«d girdling 9b Vi doz best 12 s 01 01 00

1 doz of cotton binding 00 IS 00

1 Pap, Manchester binding 00 07 06

% doz of gilt boxes in nests 00 07 00

3 Inkhorns 00 01 04

3 grss of thrill buttons at 22d 1 grss at 16d 00 06 10

1 Ivory Comb 18d 18 bone combs 00 14 06

3 boxes wtb bnming glasses in ym &g 00 07 00

3 bnming glasses at 3d 00 03 03

1 bunch of fl wt thrid 00 03 10

2 lb cott thrid IOb browne thrid 4b 2 lb thrid 6b 01 00 00

1 pee (ferrit) hard as ribban 00 15 06

1 pee Cotton rib 00 05 00

2 pes of cul'd purple lace at 2s 6d 00 05 00

3 grss & % of crewell lace at 16s pr grss 02 16 00

500 of mack, hookes lis 500 wt Ss 00 19 00

1 grsB of aules 00 13 00

18000 of Pins 01 04 00

6 Paps of grt Pinsat 5d 00 02 01

1 doz thriil Inees 13d wt tape & cold 5 pes cold at lOd . . 00 11 01

5 grss of Bilke flagon coat Buttons at 6d 00 12 00

12 doz of ye tarpest knives 7b 8d 36 doz at 5 but alto-
gether they are 48 doz at 5s 6d 13 04 00

1 doz of knives Iron hasts gilt 00 OS 00

4 doz of larpe Rissars at 5s 3d 01 01 00

5 doz of smale sissars at 3a Sd 01 02 00

Z ho^ga 00 02 00

i doz of red tape at 12b doz 01 04 00

% — ^wted browne thrid 00 05 00

16 yds of silke lace 7s 4d 13 yds green lace 3d 10 04 00

6 doz of silk lace at 5s 6d pr doz at 4s 6d 6 doz 3s 6d. . 04 01 00

12 yds of holland at 5s lOd 03 10 00

3 yds of ff holland at 10s 01 10 00

8 yds of blew linen at 2s 7d 01 00 00

10 shurts at 6s 03 00 00

8 yds of silke (wch 6: Holton had) 00 04 00

251 12 08
Posted over ye leaf e forward

Octobr 7th 1657.

To 12 yds of Devonshire kersy at 12s 6d 07 10 00

^ yds V^ of kersy pse Devonshire at 14s 03 17 00

2 yds ptector cold kersy at 12s 01 10 00

3 yds % of shag* beys at 6d 6s 6d 01 04 05

8 yds of red kersy at 6s 4d pr yd 02 10 08

6 yds of kersy at 7s pr yd 02 02 00

6 yds of yellow Tammy at 3s 2d 00 19 00

silke 00 03 00

4 yds l^ T. N at 14s 02 19 06

2 pr large mens stockens at 4s 6d 00 09 00

6 pr womens No. 6 at 2s lOd 00 17 00

1 doz No 8 01 07 00

6 pr No 9 at 2s 2d 00 13 00

1 doz No 10 01 04 00

% doz No 14 at 16s pr doz No 16 10s 6d 00 18 06

1 Codline 4s 2 yds of shag beys at 7s 8d , . . . 00 19 04

2 yds of black Searge at 9s 00 18 00

6 yds Canvas at 2s 6d 4 doz buttons at 7d 00 17 04

2 yds of Comation Tammy at 3s 8d 00 07 04

Nov 19 1657

To 47 yds of red duffeild at 7s 6d 17 12 06

48 yds of bleu duff at 7s 6d 18 00 00

45 yds 1/2 of Sad deep blew at 7s 6d 17 01 03

27 yds of wt duffeild at 7s 6d 10 02 06

106 yds % of blew shag cot at 3s 7d 19 01 08

50 yds l^ of red napt cot at 3s 7d 10 01 04

4 yds 1/2 of kersy at 7s 4d 01 13 00

2 yds 14 of wt flan at 3s 00 06 00

6 doz of hooke & eyes 3 doz of clasps 2s 00 02 00

silke 5s Buttons 2s 4d 00 07 04

200 of 8d nayles 200 of 6d 00 04 00

^ 7^ % Qi* o' greene Say 6d 00 06 09

39 yds % of cold callicos at 2s ..•>, 03 19 00

2 Q of Paper 14d % p'agon 3s 8d 00 04 10

1 grss of awles 13 s 3 doz buttons 21d silke 12 00 15 09

3 yds l^ of Searge at 7s 6d 2 primers 12d 01 07 03

2 yds % gren rib 15d Needles 2s 00 03 03

3 80. silke 3 yds gallome 00 01 05

% yd of wt flanell 00 02 03

132 18 11

on ye other side is ye Sum of 251 12 08

in my old booke is ye Sum of 249 09 07

To wt is due on a Bill for John Stewart 003 15 00

637 16 02

Beced by 53 lb of Bever at 8s pr lb this 4th of Febr
1657 is 21 £ 4s. Reced for wt I allow you for fetch-
ing your goods fro Hartford 15s, all is * 021 19 00

Febr 4th 1657. Acoted & Bests due to mee ye Sum of. .615 17 02

Beced by what I allow you (besides former allow-
ances) for wampam you had of mee before I went
to England wch you say is 02 00 00

So ye rest due to mee , 613 17 02

Febr 5th 1657 To Tammy, Paper, shot, laces & bor-
dering stuff 05 09 10

Tammy & lace delvrd to G: Cooper 00 07 05

1 lb of Powder 00 02 04

20 Shurts 05 00 00

10 yds of hambro 01 00 00

2 sieths 10s 2 sickles 4s 00 14 00

3 yds Va ^2 qr of ff Searge at 8s 01 09 00

2 doz buttons 14d 6 sc silke 9d 00 01 11

June 16th 1658.

44 yds of blew duffeild at 7s 6d 16 14 00

58 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 10 07 10

652 03 06

Deduct ye sun Becd as P Contra £288 01s 09d. So

Bests due to me of all acots made up July

1658 ye Sum of « 364 01 09

Joseph Parsons Dr

Joseph Parsons owes me on what I set off on his
acot to much by Mr. Goodwin 8s. Mr. Goodwin
not allowing so much as I set off in Josephs

acot by 8s 00 08 00

Due to me for ye trade of Nolwotogg & upward for
wch you were allow me £12 in Bever for a yeare
& ye yeare is Expired ye 12th of August 1658.
This I Reced on an act forward IIL 12s 03d wch I
acceptt & so cross it.

Octobr 26th 1658.

To 3 doz smale sissars at 3s 8d pr doz 00 11 00

To 3 C of ordi. Needles 00 06 00

To 5 lbs, 1000 ff & browne thrid at 4s 01 01 03

8 yds of narrow Callico at 22d 00 14 08

9 yds of brd. Callico at 2s 6d 01 02 06

6000 of Pins at 16d 1000 smal 15d 4 Paps at 5d 00 11 00

3 grss of thrid buttons 00 04 00

3 doz of lace at 5s 6d pr doz 6 doz at 2s 6d 01 11 06

6 doz of Crewell lace at 16d 00 08 00

2 yds l^ kersy at 7s 6d.. * 01 00 08

16 yds ^2 kersy at 6s 8d.... 05 10 00

To 55 yds % of wt shag Cotton at 3s 7d 09 19 10

To 29 yds % of blew duffeild at 7s 6d 11 03 02

To 23 yds of blew duff, at 7s 6d 08 12 06

To 48 yds i/g of blew duf at 7s 6d 18 03 09

24 yds of blew duff at 7s 6d 09 00 00

23 yds 1/2 of blew at 7s 6d 08 16 03

24 yds of blew at 7s 6d 09 00 00

45 yds % blew at 7s 6d 17 03 02

14 yds of wt duffeild at 7s 6d 05 05 00

49 yds of wt shag Cotton at 3s 7d 08 15 07

60 yds of blew shag Cotton at 3s 7d 10 15 00

119 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 21 06 05

63 yds of red Shag Cotton at 3s 7d 11 05 09

54 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 09 13 06

3 pes wt tapes at 16d is 4s 1 green & blew 00 06 00

12 yds of filleting 00 01 04

12 yds cotton rib 00 02 00

1 doz of hard as rib 6s, 1 doz & y^ at 4s 6d 00 12 00

% lb woted bro thrid 4s, % lb 5s 6d ff thrid 1 bunch at

3s 6d 00 13 00

4 yds of ff Lockram at 3s 8d 00 14 08

4 yds of hoUand at 01 00 00

2 yds of shag holland 00 06 06

% yd of ff holland 00 08 00

1 yd V^ greene Say at 8s, 1 yd i/g at 5s pr yd 00 17 06

^yds % of Protector Cold cloth at 12s 01 07 00

5 yds of kersy at 9s 8d pr yd 02 13 02

16 sc of silke 00 02 00

1 Testament, plain 00 02 06

1 yd of stuff for facing 00 05 10

1 looking glass 00 02 00

12 yds of wt cotton at 3s 7d 02 03 00

6 lb of Powder 00 12 00

184 17 06

Whereas upon my motion Joseph Parsons hath surrendred
up to me yt share of my land in Minhan wch he had agreed for,
being the lowermost 20 acres I do pmise him yt in case I should
sell it (before I have bin at any further charges either in build-
ing, fencing or Improving or otherwise) that then I will let
him have ye refusal of ye sd Twenty acres & at ye same price
wch was £ 6 lOs this pmise I made him in June 18, 1658

Joseph Parsons Cr

By 21 Bushels & % of wheate 03 15 03

By so much I Becd of your Brother Benja 00 12 00

Aprill 27th 1658. By 219 lb of Bever at 8s pr lb 87 12 00

By 26 lb of Bever at 5s 6d 06 10 00

by otters mushquashes &c 03 15 00

July 23 1658

By 259 lb & Va Bever at 9s pr lb 116 15 06

By otters 01 15 00

By Bever Cods 00 18 00

By Mr Dan. Clarke 34 00 00

By 5 bush Pease & 2 bush wheate delid into 01 03 00

By Mr Holyoke 50s. By 42 bush wth Keny £ 8 8s. .... 10 18 00
By Bill Mr Goodwin 12 £ 4s, more by Mr Goodwin for

G: Howard 3£ 15 04 00

By 23 bush wheate G: Holton pd in to Mr. Goodwin. . 04 12 00

deduct this Sum Pr Contra 288 01 00

October 26 1658

To 12 doz of knives at 6s 8d. . . . * 04 00 00

1 doz knives at 8s 00 08 00

1 doz of smale wt halfes silv shoulders 00 05 00

1 doz of knives 6s 1 doz 8s 00 14 00

1 doz of stockens no 1 10s 1 doz No 4 13 s 01 03 00

1 doz no 6 17s - doz no 7 18s 01 15 00

2 doz of womens stockens at 3s 03 12 00

25 shurts at 6s 07 10 00

4 Quire of Pap 00 02 00

4 yds of Searge at 7s p yd 03 03 00

1 pr stockens 4s 6d 2 pr mens 2 horn books 00 05 08

54 lb of Iron 00 14 08

allowance to Bever 00 18 00

2 lb of nayles^ 00 02 00

3 doz Buttons 21d silk 12d 00 06 03

% Searge 6s, 2 yds % convas 7s 2d hookes 00 13 06

Jan 12th 1659

3 yds of cotton rib 4s 6 thimbles 12d 00 05 00

3 yds l^ of Tuffted holland at 4s 00 13 00

1 yd dimity 22d 1 Q Pap 7d 00 02 05

% yd of holland 00 07 03

a cold, hat 01 00 00

1 doz stockens 1 doz womens stockens 3s 4d pr pr. . . . 02 00 00

1 yd l^ of scarlet shag beys at 7s 4d 00 09 03

6 yds of Vg Taunton Searge at 7s 8d 02 08 11

1 ff felt hat 01 05 00

1 doz of Steele Tobacco tongs 00 10 00

3 nayles of Searge did to Thos. Noble 00 01 06

1 yd % of holland at 7s 3d pr yd is 00 12 08

1 doz & % of Buttons 00 01 09

July 12th 1659
To what you pay for John Bliss as pr your own

letter ordering me to set it to your accot 08 16 00

more to John Bliss 00 02 08

44 17 05

on ye other side is 184 17 06

& on ye former side is 364 01 09

4 yds ribban at lOd 00 03 04

Nov: 21 1659.
To 55 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 50 yds l^ of wt

Shag at 3s 7d 18 10 11

1 doz knives Needles worstead 00 19 00

3 yds napt cotton at 3s 2d 00 09 06

28 yds of greene kersy at 4s lOd 06 15 04

1 pr of cards 00 03 06

To so much pd for you to Mr fitch 04 05 00

1/4 holland 2s 3d Needles 1 C 18d 00 03 09

To 1 draft Bed 02 00 00

Sept 26, 1660

1 yd % Searge at 7s 6d 00 13 02

6 yds Gallome 2s silk 8 scaines 12d 00 03 H)0

To 1 lb of Colloured thrid 5s 6d brown thrid 00 09 06

ffor ye fur this yeare past viz to July or August 1660. 03 00 00

Decembr 12th 1660

To 46 yds of blew Duffeild at 7s 6d 17 05 00

To 43 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 07 14 01

16 lb of Iron (formerly) 00 04 04

for ye Bever Trade this yeare to July 1661 04 00 00

To 2 peices of Bed tape. /, 00 02 06

1 pee Cotton rib 6s 1 yd wt fustion 2s 00 08 00

6 lb Plums 6s 1 swath 2s 8d 00 08 03

1 pc wosted 2s 6 yds lace is 8d 00 03 08

June 29th 1061

To 46 yds of red Trading cloth at 7s 6d 17 05 00

to 8 yds of wt blanketting at 7s 6d 03 00 00

To 6 yds of red shag cotton at 3s 7d 11 13 00

693 16 11
Eecd p Contra 567 10 00 rest to Ballance 126 06 11

June 29th 1661
Acoted, & of all acots is due to me to Ballance ye Sum

of 126 06 11

To 1 doz of stockens 31s 3 pee of tape 3s 9d 3 peces

girdling wostd girdling 5s Oil 19 09

To a miscast on one of ye psells of Bever on ye other

side & to what you pay for Medad Pomrey.... 11 12 06

139 19 02
Beced p contra 93 14 02 rests 46 14 02

August 27th 1661. Acoted due to me fro: Joseph Par-
sons 46 14 02

& for 1 lb of Baysons 00 01 00

Witness his hand, (autograph) Joseph Parsons

Joseph Parsons Cf

By what Good: Mirick pays 02 10 00

By 10 lb of Bever 04 10 00

by 6 lb % of Bever 7s 02 07 03

By Bever at 9s 01 08 00

By 2 otters 00 17 00

11 12 03

This you pay towards what you are to allow for ye

Bever Trade & I acquit it
fPor the yeare to come I have agreed wth Joseph Parsons Till
August 1659 about ye & for his Liberty to trade furs at North-
ampton wth ye Indians he is to allow me for this next yeare ye
Sum of three pounds & I pmise him not to give or allow liberty
to any more to trade than to Edward Elmer.

Jan 12th 1659
By wampam to make the purchase of Lands for Hart-
ford people (besides wt wampam you had) I allow
you on accot and all busyness wth Chickwallop

cleared 27 19 06

more. By what I pay you by Richard fellows Order

wch I allow him on Billings accot 05 00 00

By what Goodm: Barnard pay me for Bobt Bartlett. 01 05 00

fPebr 26 1659

By what John Stebbins pays me for you by a note
under my hand to ffellows ye other 3L being set
off on John Stebbins acot I allow you 40s, I say. . 02 00 00

By Beacon Chapins paymt of 20s 01 00 00

By paymt of Alexander Edwards 02 00 00

May or Jime 1659

By 217 lb of Bever at 8s 86 16 00

by 10 lb of Bever at 6d 03 00 00

By 12 otters & 12 Musquashes 04 15 00

August 12« 1659

By 17 lb Bever at 10s 08 10 00

45 lbs of Bever at 8s 18 00 00

By 308 lbs Bever at 9s 138 12 00

By 63 of Bad Bever mostly at 6s 7s lOd 14 00 00

By 102 bush of wheate deld to Mr Goodwin 20 08 00

June 1. 1660

By 73 lb of Bever at 8s 29 04 00

By 7 otters 03 00 00

By 45 fox skins & 3 Racoone skins & others 03 13 00

By 30 musquashes &c 00 13 00

By 23 bush of wheate 04 00 06

By 10 Moose skins weigh 216 lbs at 12d 10 16 00

By 12 fad (fathoms) of wampam you pd Umpanche.. 03 00 00

By a coat to Umpanche & 5 fad. wampam 02 05 00

By 1 moose skin 22 lb 01 02 00

By Mr Tyngs Atachmt 00 01 00

By 48 lbs of Bever 21 12 00

9 Musquashes 00 04 06

98 Bush of wheat as you say into Jonathan 19 12 00

By 6: Dimibleton 2 bush of wheate 00 07 00

June 29th 1661

By 331 lbs 14 of winter Bever at 8s 120 12 00

By 19 lb of Bever at 6s 8d 06 00 00

By 5 otters 2 being bad ones & Racoon skins 02 16 00

By 5 lb % Bever Cods 01 00 00

By 2 Moose skins 02 07 00

By 1 qt of Liquors 00 04 06

By ye Court charges at Northampton in, March 1661.. 01 07 00

567 10 00

August 16 1661 Reced 202 lb of Bever 9s 90 18 00

Reed 1 otter skin 01 10 00

By ffra. Hackleton 01 15 00

93 05 00.

Page 336

Joseph Parsons Dr

To 11 bush % of wheat wch Jonathan Gilbert allows
not of: he Red but 86 l^ whereas you charged 98

So yt you are to allow me for 11 bush % 02 07 00^

Apl 29 1662 To 3 Q of Pap 00 01 09

To 1 lb % brown Thrid 00 01 00^

To 1 yd 1/2 of silk stuff at 7s 00 10 06

To paymyt to John Bliss 10 00 00^

June 10th 1662

To 57 yds red shag cotton at 3s 7d 10 04 03

To 11 yds 1/2 wt stripd Duffeild 04 06 03<

To wheate fro: John King 40 bush 08 10 00

To what you pay me for Mr fitch 03 00 00

36 13 09

To rest on old acot p. 4 & 5 46 15 02

82 08 11

June 11th 1662 Acoted & rests Due to Ballance 19 12 02

July 9th 1662 To a psell of wampam well strung and
good ye white at 12 a Penny & ye black at 6 for
good, thin skin Sumer at lOd pr lb ye wampam

all is £30 30 00 00

To a psell of course wampam, sold ye Lump for £24

in Summer Bever good at 10s 28 00 00

To 2 shurts 00 12 00

To allowance for ye Bever Trade To July or August

1662 04 00 00

92 04 02

Ileced pr Contra £52 18s 6d

Tests 29 05s 8d

Augfust 4th 1662. Accoted & rest Due To Ballance 29 05 08

To 66 yds of red shag Cotton at 3s 8d 12 02 00

To 3 doz knives 00 18 00

Nov. 7, '62.

To 47 yds % blew Trading cloth 17 12 00

58 yds red shag Cotton at 3s 9d 10 17 06

13 yds 1/4 of striped Duffeild at 8s 05 06 00

yd 2 l^ Vg 1/2 qr of kersy 00 17 11

.8 doz lace 14s 1 C Needles 21d, 125 fish hooks 2s 3d 00 18 00

6 doz of Buttons at 13d 00 06 06

15 yds ^ North Kersy in remnants 05 05 03

16 lb of Iron 4s 8d'. 00 14 08

To 2s 6d you desired me to pay to G: Morgan for

carrying Meale wch I pd since we reckoned 00 02 06

To 25 yds wt damaged DufCeild at 5s lOd 07 05 10

To 5 02 00 00

April 6 1663

To 20 yds of red duffeild 07 10 00

39^

To 63 yds % of red shag betwixt yon & Goodm: Wil-
ton yonr halfe is 31 yds % at 3s 9d 05 19 01

To 24 yds of Trading Cloth , 09 00 00

To allowance for ye Bever Trade the last yeare past

vizt fro: July 1662 to Jnly 1663 02 05 00

126 19 00

August 28th 1663 Acoted & rests due to Ballance.... 06 02 03

To paymt for you to G: Lyman 01 08 00

To Compas 00 12 00

To Severalls brought fro: day Booke 154 04 03

162 06 06

Keced pr Contra 02 14 00

Novembr 10th 1663 Acoted and rests due to me ye

sum of 159 12 06

Witness his hand (autograph) Joseph Parsons.

Joseph Parsons Cr

April 29 1662

By 5 otter skins 03 00 00

By James Taylor 10s out of wch I pay your Kate to

Mr Glover 6s 4d & acots you 00 03 08

By 20 Moose Skins 344 lb at 22d 17 04 00

By 93 lb of Bever skins at 8s 6d 39 10 06

By Ensign Wilton 04 15 00

By 3 Pints of wine 00 03 07d

63 16 09

Accoted June 11th 1662

August 4th 1662 By 60 lb of Bever at 9s 18 13 06

By 4 otters 01 15 00

50 08 06
By 1 Moose — this moose being forgot to be summed
up it is charged below By allowance on ye Bever
af oresd 01 00 00

51 08 06
By abatemt on ye Course wampam Pr Contra 01 10 00

52 1& 06

By 1 Moose Skin (forgot) 17 lb 00 17 00

May 20th 1663 By G: ffeUd 2 Pack of Bever 36 & 40 lb

76 lb at 88 30 08 00

Moose skins, 190 lb at 9d 07 02 06

July 14 1663 By 81 lb of Bever 9s 3d 37 09 03

By 26 otters 10 10 00

August 28, 1663 By a psell of Bever 24 10 00

120 16 09

Octobr 13th 1663

By 5 % of Bever 02 07 06

By 6 Musquashes & 2 Minks 00 06 06

02 14 00

Memorandum, where Joseph Parsons & I made up this acot
I brought fro: Day booke but £154 4s 3d as Pr Contra when as
ye pticulars in day booke amounts to £57 4s 3d are so cast up
there, only I mistooke in Posting it & so have wronged myself
£ 3 wch will be evident in turning to day

Booke so yt Joseph Parsons is more Dr 03 00 00

wch add to 159 12 06

In all Joseph Parsons owes me ye full Sum of 162 12 06

Joseph Parsons Debt as it is one leafe back is 162 12 06

Eecd towards it by Moose, Bever, otters, foxes and
other smale skins & 1 Bundle of Bever this 20th of

Sept 1664 55 01 06

Reced by 500 Doble Tens 00 08 00

Eecd by wampam I take againe • 20 00 00

75 09 06

Sept 20th 1664
Acoted & rests due to mee fro: Joseph Parsons ye

sum of 87 03 00

Posted to New Booke
this 2d March 1664

Joseph Parsons Dr

To allowances for ye Bever Trade July 1663 to July

1664 03 10 00

To Severals dlrd Oc 22 (64) 18 03 10

Nov. 1, 1664 To Severals 53 18 00

To paymt for Tho Miller £ 16 in wheat at 2 paymts

viz halfe at Spring & Vi spring com. 12 Mo 16 00 00

To 4 yds of silk lace sent Pr Wm Smead 00 02 08

March 2d 64 To 6 yds Gallome at 5d 00 02 06

To Ballance of ye acot in ye old Booke as it was made

np Sept 20th 1664 ye Sum of 87 03 00

April 7th 1665 To 2 Bonets at ISd 1 comb 15d 00 04 03

1000 of Nayles 00 03 00

Jnne 25th 1665

To 1 Sieth 00 06 00

11 yds filet Is 5d, 1 pr stockens 12d 00 02 05

1 Ivory Ck>mb 00 01 08

To 1 bunch of tape 00 01 08

Nov. 1665 To 32 yds of red shag cotton at 4s 06 08 00

To 4 yds % lace at 16d 00 06 00

March 10, 65 To 3 knives at 9d 00 01 06

May 1666 To 10s in Monny at Boston 00 10 00

June 20th 1666 To 1 sieth 5s 6d 1 point tape 15d 00 06 09

Sept 27 To 1 pr smale stockens to G: Bliss 00 01 02

To allowance for ye Bever Trade for ye yeare 1664 &

65, vixt fro: July 64 to July 65 03 10 00

To ye Liberty of ye Trade July 65 to July 66 03 10 00

To ye Liberty of Trade fro: July 66 to July 67 03 10 00

To allowance for ye Bever Trade from July 67 to

July 68 03 10 00

Sept 8 68 To 3 doz silk & silk Buttons at 2s 00 06 00

ffeb 4th 1668 To 6 doz Buttons 12s 4 doz silk 01 02 01

6 yds black ribban 00 06 00

To 8 doz silk Buttons at 16d 4 doz at 9d 00 13 08

204 00 02
Reced Pr Contra 184 10 06, Best 19 09 08

flebr 4th 1668

Acoted & rests due to Ballance 19 09 08

May 1, 1669 dlrd to your Mother Bliss for you 12 lb

of Sugar at 8d 00 12 00

June 29 1669 To 1 yd 14 & nayle of Searge at 7s 00 11 00

Sept 27 69 To 11 yds of Bolter lis 3d 1/2 yd Nayle

Searge 4s 6d 00 15 09

21 08 06
To neck Button Tho Stebbing Jimr tooke up for you. 00 01 02

Joseph FaTBODB Cr

By wheats fro: Thos Copley 01 11 OS

August 22 1665 By 55 lb of Bever at 88 22 00 00

By 7 otters at 7a 6d 02 12 06

By wheat fro: Benjamm Parsons 00 17 00

By due to jou fro: ye Country; your flues &c dis-
counted; the rests due you 1 148 won I hove al-
lowed 01 14 OO

Jan 2B 65 102 lb of Bever at 7s 35 14 00

By 3 ott«rs 01 01 00

By Benja Cooly 00 08 06

June SOth 1G66 By 473 lb Moose 23 00 00

By 69 111 of Ueverat 7b 24 03 00

By 4 otters. : 01 12 OO

By John Hitchcock 00 10 00

By Nothitnell Ely 02 00 00

By Benjam Parsons 00 06 00

18 Jan 1667 By 80 lb of Bever at 8s 34 08 00

By 30 111 Bever jit 4fi 06 00 00

By Musquashes Ac 00 10 00

By 288 lbs of Moose at 9d 10 00 00

May 1668 By Monny at Boston 07 00 00

By Goodman Buscomb 04 00 00

ITebr 4 1668 By Geo Colton 03 15 00

By 1 otter skin before winter 00 08 00

184 10 06
DiBcoiut«d all above Pr Contra this 4th ffebr 1688

March 3d 1668-69 By John Dumbleton in wheat 01 01 00

By Manny at Bt^ton in May 1669 01 01 00

By 35 bush of whente fro: B Parsons 04 07 05

Nov 15 1669 By G: Parsons 01 10 00

By Enaigne Cooly 01 11 00

By allowance for 2 wolvea of old 40s out of wch I pay
your Riite to Mr. Glover, Town Hate & so allow

you on acot here 01 12 00

April) 1670 By your goinp to ya Bay wth yo votes for
Nomination: for ye 368, Courts pay, you accept

258 01 05 00

By Monny pd at Boston to my Son John Aug 30 1670. 05 00 00

ffebr 11 1670 By Beice Bedortha 00 16 00

June 28 1671 By John Web 02 06 DO

At Northampton Joseph Parsons received many grants of
land from the town. His homelot was on the North side of
what is now Bridge street and extended from what is Market
street to the present park in front of the Cemetery. The next
lot north of his was granted to his brother-in-law, John Bliss.
Joseph held at one time 81 acres besides his homelot. The
Northampton Town Eecords contain entries of several grants
that were made to him, as follows: —

'* December 1, 1657. Voted & Granted to Joseph Parsons
6 acres of Swamp land at the Southerly Side of Mill Eiver,
towards the Millward, in Lieu of so much in Munhan.**

^^Frb. 8, 1G58. Voted & Granted the day and year above
said 3 acres of meadow to Joseph Parsons, for the Estate he
had in his Irishman."

''December 1, 1G59. Given & Granted by the Town to
Joseph Parsons an addition of Land of two acres of upland
joining to his 6 acres of swamp over the Mill Eiver."

''February 19, 1660. It was voted & agreed the day &
year above said that Joseph Parsons should have 10 acres
near the common fence upon Pine Plain, 7 acres of it in lieu
of his lot in little Eainbow & 3 acres in Venturers' field."

Other grants had probably been given him prior to these,
and other possessions might have been by purchase. On the
5th month, 12th day, 1666, at a legal town meeting,
" Joseph Parsons desiring that he might have liberty to run
a fence from the great river (Connecticut) to the mountain
at Pascomuck, to the hither end of his meadow & Soe up the
path by the little milstone mountain to the great mountain
(Mount Tom), the town have chosen Ens. John Lyman, Sergt.
John King & Samuel Wright a Committee to view the place
& give the Town Information concerning the Thing & these
will consider of an answer."

This land was not far from the present Mount Tom sta-
tion on the Connecticut Eiver Eailroad, and is now within
the limits of Easthampton. The name of "Munhan," fre-
quently occurs in the town records and refers to the original,
or Indian name for the locality as well as the stream which
runs into the Ox-bow of the Connecticut Eiver. The latter
is the Manhan river of the present time.

The first board of Selectmen were chosen before Joseph
Parsons took active part in the town affairs of Northampton,
but his name appears on the second board, having been
elected in December, 1656, a year after his arrival in the
town. He was also chosen in the years 1659, 1664, 1667, and
in 1670.

At the February town meeting in 1656, '^ It was agreed that
Joseph Person (Parsons) paying 20s shall be freed from any
offis in the towne of Northampton for this yeare.*' The of-
fice in which he was desired to serve is not stated, but this
vote indicates that office holding was not specially attractive
to him and that he had more important ajffairs to attend to.

According to the town records of January 1659 Joseph
Eoote, Eichard Lyman and Joseph Parsons were chosen Se-
lectmen, and on the 11th of March William Holton, Arthur
Lyman, and Eichard Lyman were elected Commissioners to
end small causes. A court had been established, composed
of the six Commissioners from Springfield and Northampton,
and a session was called to be held at the former place on the
29th of March. Among the cases presented was that of *' Ed-
ward Elmer, Samuel Wright, Sen^, Alexander Edwards, and
John Stebbins, Plant, of Northampton, against the town of
Northampton, Deft, in an action of y® case concerning their
turning out some of the freemen from being Selectmen, to
which office they were chosen.'*

When the Court came together the three men from North-
ampton, not being under oath, presented themselves by cer-
tificate, under the hand of the constable of Northampton.
Several citizens objected to these three men because they had
not been " legally appointed to the work," and had not been
" allowed by any Superior Power as the law provides,*' which
probably means that they had not been sworn, and that they
were not freemen. After discussion the objections prevailed
and no Court was held.

In May following William Holton appeared before the
General Court asking for the appointment of Commissioners
and Selectmen. The Court ordered that William Holton,
Arthur Williams and Eichard Lyman should be Commission-
ers, and that Joseph Parsons and Thomas Eoote should be

joined witli them to be Selectmen. That settled the matter
and Northampton was provided with five Selectmen instead
of three, as had been the practice before. Among the jury-
men at this Court is the name of Joseph Parsons. His asso-
ciates on the board of Selectmen were always the leading men
of the town. During the last year of his service the board was
composed of lieut. William Clarke, Dea. William Holton,
Lieut. David Wilton, Joseph Parsons, and Medad Pomeroy.
While he was strictly a man of business, he, besides attending
to his own private affairs, gave in other respects time to
public concerns not connected with the office of Selectman.
Before narrating the various offices to which he was called,
let us consider another event which concerned his wife Mary
Parsons, more than it did himself.

The preliminary examinations at Springfield a few years
before, which had been made by William Pynchon concern-
ing the charge of witchcraft against the wife of Hugh Par-
sons, had evidently absorbed the interest of the public in gen-
eral, and was the theme which had caused slanderous talk on
the part of some of the settlers. In 1656, a year after Joseph
arrived at Northampton, he brought a suit against Sarah, the
wife of James Bridgman, for « slandering his wife, Mary Par-
sons.'' Much testimony on both sides was taken before the
Commissioners, or Justices, for ending small causes in North-
ampton, and before John Pynchon and Elizur Holyoke at
Springfield, the Commissioners in that town. Sarah Bridg-
man, as the result of these examinations, was held for trial be-
fore the Court of Assistants at Boston.

The slander consisted in the statements that Mary Parsons
was a witch. Many of her friends and neighbors in North-
ampton and Springfield testified of their belief in witchcraft
and named certain facts, the residts of which they attributed
to the use of witchcraft by Mary Parsons. Mrs. Bridgman's
child had died and she said she thought Mary Parsons had
bewitched it. Her eleven years' old son fractured his knee,
which seems to have been very bimglingly set by the ^* chi-
rugeon," and the little fellow, in his agony, cried out that
Mary Parsons was pulling his leg off, and that he saw her on
the shelf. When she went away he said that a black mouse
followed her.

William Hannum testified that he had a ^^ falling out'*
with Mary Parsons, about the use of her brother's (John
Bliss) oxen. After that he lost by disease a " lusty cow '* and
a " lusty swine that had before been well and healthy. In a
day or two after, while on his way to Windsor, with his cart
and oxen, one of the cattle was bitten by a rattlesnake and
died there. " These things,'' he said, " doe something run in
my mind that I cannot have my mind from this woman."

The defendants also tried to show that Mrs. Parsons
showed signs of being a witch while she lived in Springfield,
bringing forward among others, Benjamin Parsons, brother
of Joseph, to prove their allegation. She was said to have had
fits, like the Moxon children, who were believed to have been
bewitched. It was also certified that Joseph Parsons locked
his wife in the cellar, to prevent her going out of the house
in the night-time and wandering away. She was said to have
frequently gone out in the night, dressed in her night-clothes,
nmning until exhausted, and when she came to herself, did
not know how she came there. On the other hand, testimony
was introduced to prove that the child of Mrs. Bridgman had
been sickly from its birth, and that Hannum's stock had died
from natural causes.

All this testimony, and it was quite voluminous, was for-
warded to the Boston Court, and the case tried there in Octo-
ber, 1656. The jury found a verdict in favor of the plaintiff,
and the defendant was ordered to make ^^acknowledgment
before the Inhabitants of the places where the said Partyes
dwell, vizt: North Hampton and also at Springfield, at some
Publick meeting at each place by order of Mr. Pynchon or Mr.
HoUiocke or eyther of y™, and in such words and manner as
shall be suitable satisfaction for such an offence and the same
to be testyfied under the Hands of the said Mr. ^Pynchon and
Mr. HoUiocke, within 60 days next ensuing and in case of
default, having notice of the time at each place, the said de-
fendants, vizt: James Bridgman shall pay damages to the pi:
ten pounds sterl: (sterling). Also this Court doth order that
the Defft shall pay to the PL his costs of Court, vizt: seaven
pounds, one shilling and eight pence."

This trial and its results evidently created a family feeling.

and eighteen years afterwards, Samuel Bartlett, who had in
16'?'2 married Mary, daughter of James Bridgman, brought
suit against Mary Parsons for causing the death of his wife
by means of witchcraft. She died suddenly in 1674, and within
a few weeks Samuel Bartlett entered the case at the Septem-
ber court at Springfield. The Court was adjourned to the
18th of November, and on that day adjourned to meet at
Northampton January 5th, 1675. On this day the trial was
begun, and what follows is from the records of the Court:

"Mary Parsons, the wife of Joseph Parsons, Sen^, Ap-
peared. Alsoe Sam^ Bartlett whom this Corte ordered to pro-
duce y® witnesses in y® matter, referring to Goodwife Parsons
Suspition of witch Craft, And y® said Goodwife Parsons being
Called to speak for herself, she did assert her own inocency,
often mentioning it how Cleare she was of such a Crime, &
y* the Bighteous God knew her Inocency with whom she had
left her Cause.

Whereas Eobert Old was ordered to appear at this Corte,
But not being warned, the Corte have now left y* Case to y®
Worshipfull Major Pynchon to Deale in y* case as he sees
meete according to law. (He had probably been ordered as a
witness in this case but not summoned.)

There haveing beene many Suspitiousness of Witchcraft at
Northampton & severall testemonyes concerning the same of
Persons suspected. Exhibited to the Last County Corte in
September Last at Springfield, by Persons then & there Come-
ing Voluntarily, some to give Evidence & others there appear-
ing also without Summonses to Cleare themselves of so exe-
crable a Crime. Also James Bridgman sending to y® Corte y*
Diligent inquisition might be made Concerning the Death of
his Daughter, Saml Bartletts wife, whom both Goodman Bridg-
man & Sam^ Bartlett Suspect she Came to her end by some un-
naturall meanes, & for y* Divers testemonys reflect upon Mary
Parsons y® wife of Joseph Parsons Sen^, it being alsoe af-
firmed y* there were many more witnesses y* would Come in
y* Case. The Corte then Thought meete to order Mary Par-
sons to appeare at ye Corte now hither adjourned, who ac-
cordingly appeareing as above sayd. Alsoe Sam^ Bartlett ap-
peared, whom the Corte Ordered to Produce y« testemonyes

in y® Case, which being brought in & y* Corte finding them
many & various, some of y™ being demonstrations of Witch
Craft, & others sorely reflecting upon Mary Parsons as being
Guilty that way, Though the tryall of y® Case belongs not to
this Corte, but to the Corte of Assistants, yet Considering y«
Eemoteness, and y® Season of y® yeare & many Difficidtyes if
not incapabilityes of Pearsons there to appeare, some being
Boe weake, this Corte took y® more paines in inquiring into
y* Case, Appointed a jury of Soberdized, Chast woemen, to
make Diligent Search upon y« body of Mary Parsons, whether
any markes of witch Craft might appeare, who gave their ac-
count to y« Corte on oath of w* they found, which with all y*
testemoneys in y® Case y® Corte Orders to be sent to Boston,
to our Honored Governor by y® first opportunity. Leaving it
to his Wisdom & Prudence therein as they shal see Cause,
And y® Eecorder of this Corte is accordingly to take Care y^
all y® writings & Evidences in y® Cause be Eeady & Delivered
to y® Worshipfull Major Pjmchon who is desired to write to
y® Govern' Concerning this matter.

It is further ordered y* Mary Parsons shall make her ap-
pearance Before y® Governor or Magistartes or Corte of As-
sistants to answer to w* she is suspected of in Case she be
called or required theretoo by Authority, & her Husband,
Joseph Parsons, to become Bound in a Bond of £50 for his
wives appearance accordingly, if required before y® 13*^ of May
next. And accordingly Joseph Parsons Senr, being sent for
& Comeing before this Corte acknowledged himself Bound to
y^ County Treasurer for Hampshire in y® Sum of fifty Pounds
Sterling, that his wife Mary Parsons if required thereto shall
appeare at Boston Before y® Govern', magistartes or Corte of
Assistants or any Corte between this and y® 13th of May next,
to Answer unto w* she is suspected of viz: Witchcraft, and in
Case of her non appearinge upon lawfuU Sumons thereto.
Being sent to or left at y® House of y® sayd Joseph Parsons
then the sayd Joseph Parsons is to forfeite y® Sum of fifty
pounds as aforesaid to y® County Treasurer for y® use of y®
County, this y® said Joseph Parsons Acknowledged in Courte
Whereupon his wife was Discharged further attendance at
Present.

Some testimony being Procured in Corte Eeflecting on
John Parsons y® Corte have Eeade & Considered y"* doe not
find in y™ any such weight whereby he should be Prosecuted
on Suspition of Witchcraft and therefore doe discharge y®
Baid John Parsons of any further attendance/'

John Parsons was the second son of the accused. The case
came before the Court at Boston in March, when the Grand
Jury found a true bill against Mary Parsons and she was com-
mitted to prison to await trial, where she remained till the
following May. The case was then tried, and she was found
not guilty and discharged. Viewed in the light of the present,
the charges and trials of witchcraft appear very ridicidous,
but we shoidd not forget that they belonged to an age quite
diflEerent from our own, and that the light of experience and
reason had not fully dawned upon the mental vision of the
world. Our ancestors shared in the general beliefs of their
childhood, and that which was general in England and
throughout Europe when they came to New England.

At the March town meeting, held on the 12th, 1661, it was
** ordered that Eobert Bartlett, Thomas Mason and Joseph
Parsons measure out iO acres of land for Mr. Mather." This
was Eleazer Mather, the first minister of Northampton and
son of Eev. Eichard Mather of Dorchester. This committee
were also instructed to lay out a homelot for the ministry.
They selected a lot on the south side of the present Main
street, the front of which is now occupied by the principal
stores of the place. At a town meeting held on the 12th of
July of the same year, 1661, "It was voted and agreed by
the Inhabitants of this Town that they would build a meet-
ing house of 42 feet square, & that they would lay out about
£150." This was the first meeting house built in Northampton
and these six men were chosen and empowered to carry on
and finish the work:— William Holton, Ensign Wilton, Eobert
Bartlett, Joseph Parsons, John Stebbins and William Clark.

In 1663 there was a movement to settle Joseph Eliot as an
assistant to Mr. Mather in the ministry. He was a son of Eev.
John Eliot of Eoxbury, the Indian apostle, and it was voted
that " the land that was Sequestered for the ministry is now
granted & given by the Town to Mr. Joseph Eliot if he settle

amongst us." Nine of the inhabitants dissented from this
proposition, and among them was Joseph Parsons. The dis-
sent was on the ground that the land had been given as a
perpetual gift for the ministry and could not be disposed of
as a personal gift. Mr. Eliot remained in Northampton only
a few years.

The laying out and building highways was an important
duty in the beginning of every New England settlement. In
this work Joseph Parsons was frequently placed on commit-
tees and his judgment must have been considered extremely
valuable by the many occasions that he was called upon to
serve the town. May 24, 1661, Joseph Parsons, John Stebbins
and David Burt were chosen to treat with Newtown men about
a highway to Newtown over the river. Newtown was after-
wards named Hadley. In 1670 the Town voted to " build a
Cart bridge over Munhan Eiver for the Carriage of our Carts
and Trade to the foot of the falls." Lieut. William Clark,
Joseph Parsons, and Eobert Bartlett were appointed the Com-
mittee to execute the work. The first highway leading from
the lower towns to Northampton was that built from Wind-
sor. It crossed the Westfield river about mid-way between
Springfield and Westfield and extended along the plain west
of Mount Tom through what is now Easthampton. Travel
from Springfield to Northampton went by the way of the
road to Westfield until it intersected the road from Windsor
to Northampton. The foot of the falls refers to the falls in
the Connecticut river between Holyoke and South Hadley.
This proposition concerned the first highway along the west
bank of the Connecticut between Northampton and Spring-
field. At the County Court held at Springfield, Sept. 30,
1662, it was ordered in reference to highways and bridges be-
tween Springfield and Hadley, that Ensign Thomas Cooper
of Springfield, Joseph Parsons of Northampton, and Nath-
aniel Dickinson of Hadley, be appointed a committee and
impowered to consider the bridge, commonly called Batche-
lor's bridge, and other defective places in the said road and
whether they shall be repaired by the County or by what
particular place. They were given power, ^^ with any one of the
Hadley commissioners to issue warrants to impress men and

carts out of either of those towns, as they shall judge needful
for the work, provided they keep not any person or teams
more than three days in a week: And the work is to be done
either before winter or f urtherest by the tenth of April next/'
The County Court in 1672 appointed Joseph Parsons and John
King of Northampton and Samuel Porter and John Smith
of Hadley "to lay out a highway from Hadley town to &
over the Eiverett called Fort Eiver, towards the Bay, And
therefore they are to take good view of the most convenient
place for passage over that Eiverett for the way to the Bay/*
This was the first road leading towards Boston from North-
ampton and Hadley and which intersected the Bay Path from
Springfield to Boston in Brookfield. In this Joseph Parsons
rendered valuable service to the community, and his active life
no doubt brought him to notice the needs of such highways
concerning which he was afterwards engaged to superintend,,
as one of the committee who were called to the work.

The Court records show that Joseph Parsons kept an " Or-
dinary," at Northampton, that is, a house of entertainment,
what later would be called a tavern. He was licensed by the
Court in 1661, which was renewed in 1662 and in 1664. The
Court records say: "Joseph Parsons of Northampton is by
the Corte Lycensed to keepe and Ordinary, or house of Comon
Entertaynment, in the Town of Northampton, for the yeare
ensuing: and he hath liberty granted him to sell wines or
strong liquors for y® same tyme: provided he keepe good rule^
& order in his house.'*

In 1665 he appears to have had some differences with Peter
Hyndrix (or Hendricks) who brought a suit "about ac-
counts/* Medad Pomeroy pleaded for Hyndrix, presenting
an account wherein he " charged Joseph Parsons with owing
him £10 14s 6d.** The jury found for the plaintiff in the sum.
of £4 Ss 3d, "which was owned and proved in Corte; also
the Costs of y« Corte w*^** is 20s & 6d.** Following this,
Joseph was presented to the Court for "breach of the Law
in suffering Hendricks y® Dutchman to Spend his tyme &
estate in his the said Joseph's house, y® Ordinary. He the
said Joseph Parsons is by this Corte fyned to y® County in y®'
sume of 40 shillings, to be paid to y® County Treasurer/*

The year previons, 1664, Joseph Parsons and Robert Bart-
lett, the Constable, appear to have had a difference of opinion
which the Court records do not explain. It appears in the
record of the Court held at Springfield, Sept. 27, 1664, which
says: —

"Joseph Parsons of Northampton was presented & com-
playned of to this Corte for opposing & resisting the Constable
of Northampton in execution of his office & work, using means
to Send downe the Countrey rate, violently taking away his
" [Joseph's] '^ oxen & his Sack that were pressed " [by Bart-
lett] ^ for the Countrey service: Which act of the said Joseph
being by this Corte judged high contempt of Authority, he
was fyned to y* County in y* sum of five pounds: And for y*
it appeared in the examination of things that the said Joseph
Parsons & the Constable, Eobert Bartlett, had Some Scuffling
in the busyness whereby blood was drawn between them, they
axe each of them fyned to y® County in the summe of ten
shillings apeace: The Severall fynes to be paid to y® County
Treasurer. The Said Joseph Parsons upon passing the sen-
tence of y® Court did immediately before the Court acknowl-
edge his of ence in affrunting Authority & intreated the
Corte for abatm* of his fyne. The Corte well accepting of
submission remitted twenty shillings of his fyne.**

The " Countrey rate " refers to the Province tax, which was
collected by the Constable, generally in wheat or com, and
taken down the river to Hartford and there shipped to Bos-
ton.

This fine of £4 10s was evidently paid in the sale of an acre
and a half of land to the County, for there is in the record of
Sept. 26, 1665, the following:—

" The County Treasurer propounding to this Corte whether
the acre & J of land w*'^ was taken last year of Joseph Parsons
in paym* for a fyne shall not be accounted (being returned to
him) as part paym* of the Countyes debt to him, according as
it was then taken of him, vizt: at £4 10s, & whether his fyne
of £3 at y® last Corte may not be sett off towards what the
County owes him, y® said Joseph Parsons: This Corte de-
clared yt such paymt is good & suitable & shalbe Soe ac-
counted & ordered the County Treasurer to sett off Soe much

with him y* said Joseph & to pay him the rest of the Counteys
debt to his content/'

With one having such wide business interests as did Joseph
Parsons, it is not strange that he shoidd occasionally appear
in the Courts, as plaintiff or defendant. Then, too, in those
early days our ancestors must of necessity have some amuse-
ment, even if it was only a suit at law. At the first Court
held in Northampton, Sept. 28, 1658, " Joseph Parsons com-
playnes against John Webb for not delivering a Cow & Calf
according to bargayne and thereupon Joseph demanded £4
of the said John w^^ the said John Owed him. Upon hear-
inge the busyness Joseph Parsons was content to accept of
the Cow though the Calf e was lost, the said John allowing
the said Joseph 5s w^^ he promised to allow & pay the said
Joseph.'' At the same Court "Joseph Parsons was chosen
Clarke of the Band, & took the oath accordingly for the due
execution of his office."

At the Northampton court in 1665 Joseph Parsons brought
a suit against Praysever Turner for non payment of a debt
due by bill and damage of £30. This action was withdrawn
and both plaintiff and defendant paid equal amounts for the
entry of the action.

At the Springfield Court, Sept. 27, 1670, Joseph Parsons
brought a suit against John Ingersoll of Westfield, but the
parties agreed before the case was pleaded. He brought at
the same time suit against Thomas Copley. This was also
settled and the cost of the entry remitted.

At the Springfield Court, held Sept. 26, 1671, Joseph Par-
sons of Northampton was plaintiff in an action against Ed-
ward Blake, for " withholding a debt of £13 3s in money, for
a hogshead of fiax, w^'h he the said Blake received of Eichard
Goodall by order of the said Parsons, with due interest & all
other due damages. In this action the attachment & evi-
dences in y® case, w% are on file, being produced & read in
Corte & committed to the jury they brought in their verdict,
y* they find for the plaintiff e, vizt: Joseph Parsons, that y®
defendant is to pay him Six pounds one shilling & ten pence,
to be paid in specie, vizt: in silver, & costs of Corte. The ver-
dict is accepted, and costs as per bill as allowed is £1 9s/'

At the Northampton court, held March 25, 1673, there is
this record: —

"Joseph Parsons Sen*", Plaintifife, contra, John Abbott,
Deft, in action of the case for fraudulent dealing in withhold-
ing, detayning & not delivering the writing, lease, or agreem'
w^h was subscribed to by the said Joseph Parsons & John
Abot, & two witnesses See Subscription & delivery. This
writing, lease. Agreement, was respecting John Abbot taking
the said Joseph Parsons Senr his farme at Pascomuck for a
terme of yeeres, & to enter upon it the first of Aprill next en-
sueing, to y« damage of Twenty pounds. In this action be-
tween Joseph Parsons, Plaintiffe & John Abbott Defedt, the
case being pleaded & heard & examined, & the Attachm* &
evidences in y® case (w^h are on file) being produced & read
in corte & committed to the Jury, they brought in a verdict
that they find for the plantiffe, costs of Corte, & that the
Instrum* or writing detayned be delivered up in Corte. As
soon as the verdict was given in it was declared that Plaintiffe
& defdt were upon agreement by arbitration.'^

Hampshire County was created in 1662. The General
Court "ordered that Springfield, Northampton and Hadley
shall be constituted as a county, the bounds or limits on the
South to be to the south line of the patent; the extent of the
other bounds to be fully thirty miles distant from any or
either of the aforesaid towns, * * * and further that the
said county shall be called Hampshire & that Springfield shall
be the shire town, & the Courts to be kept one time in Spring-
field & another time in Northampton.'' Two County Courts
were held each year, the March term at Northampton and the
September term at Springfield. The jurymen were drawn
from both places, usually the greater number from Spring-
field. Joseph Parsons appeared quite frequently as a juror, —
in 1667, 1668 and 1677 at Springfield, and in 1682 and
1683 at Northampton. The pay of a juryman at that period
was 2s a day. The expenses of the jurors while serving ap-
pear to have been paid by the County, and* they sometimes
figure in John Pynchon's accounts. At a County Court held
in Springfield, Sept. 25, 1660, the Judges were: John Web-
ster of Hadley, the ancestor of Noah Webster, John Pynchon

and Dea. Samuel Chapin of Springfield. The Eecorder was
Elizur Holyoke. The jurors were: Thomas Cooper, Henry
Burt, Thomas Mirick, William Warriner, William Branch,
John Dumbleton, Lawrence Bliss, Dea Benjamin Parsons, of
Springfield, and William Janes, Arthur Williams, and Alex-
ander Edwards of Northampton. After deciding the differ-
ences between man and man, and laying down the law, fancy
these worthies with two Constables gathering around the
dinner-table of the keeper of the Ordinary, Samuel Marsh-
field, and there spending an hour in social conversation con-
cerning the great events of their time; and what it cost the
County we still have the record in John Pynchon's own hand:
" For y® Commissioners (the Justices), Jurors, & Constables,
dinner on y® Court day, in all 18 persons, at 16d a peice, in
all £1 4s, & 3 pints of wine, 3s 9d/^ There is also this entry
in Pynchon's book, for the same Court expenses: " Sept. 25,
1660. To Sam. Marshfield, y® ordinary keeper, for y® Jury-
men from Northampton, their suppers 2 nights, breakfast 2
mornings, Beds, Beere & 1 pint of wine, 14s 3d."

In the above we have a glimpse of court days in olden times
and the gathering twice a year must have been an event of
more than ordinary interest to those who dispensed justice
and law in the beginnings of our Connecticut Valley.

The last case that Joseph had in the County Court was
that brought against Benoni Stebbins of Northampton in
Springfield Sept. 26, 1682, when he sued Stebbins for a debt
of about 50 shillings. " The attachmt & evidence being pro-
duced & read in Corte, & transferred to the Jury they brought
in their verdict that they find for the Plaintiffe, two pounds
ten shillings in money & costs of Corte, w°h as Pr bill al-
lowed of in Corte: Thirteen shillings & six pence.^'

At the next Court held at Northampton, March 27, 1683,
Stebbins brought a suit in Review, and the record states,
*^ When upon account of sd Debt, as now may appear he had
received & Improved one Barrel of Pork of said Stebbins in
Boston, Porke being usually sold there then at between fifty
& sixty shillings, or Three pounds a barrell, al which exposed
the sd Plantiffe to the charge of about four Pounds ten shill-
ings, besides charges in this Action. * * * Testimonys &

evidences In the Case being produced & read in Corte the
Jury brought in their verdict y^ they find for the PlaintiflEe,
fifty three shillings in money & Thirteen shillings & Six
pence in wheate (hereby reversing the former judgment) &
Costs of Corte, which are as pr bill allowed, one pound seven-
teen shillings & six pence/'

At a town meeting in Northampton, March 26, 1664, Lieut.
David Wilton, Dea. William Holton, Joseph Parsons and
Eobert Bartlett were appointed to run the boundary line be-
tween Northampton and Hadley. At that time Hatfield was
a part of Hadley and this line was between that town and
Northampton. Six years later the Selectmen appointed John
Eang and Samuel Wright to run the bounds between Hadley
and Northampton. This refers to the line previously men-
tioned. They were to meet at Pontius, now Hatfield meadows,
and "Joseph Parsons Seni' is to go with them because he
knows the way.''

June 30, 1670, Joseph Parsons, Senior, Thomas Eoote,
Seni', Robert Bartlett, Isaac Sheldon, John King, David Burt,
Samuel Wright, were chosen a Committee to order the settle-
ment of all the highways in the meadow and rectify errors
therein, "And because Joseph Parsons, Eobert Bartlett, &
Samuel Wright were absent on occasion the Town added to
them Lt. William Clarke, Ensign John Lyman and Thomas
Mason."

Connecticut proposed to exact a duty on all grain going
down the Connecticut Eiver from Massachusetts, first to es-
tablish and maintain a forte at Saybrook, and later to raise a
revenue. To this Springfield and Northampton objected and
petitions were sent to the General Court in relation to it, and
finally the practice was abandoned. Northampton took ac-
tion at a town meeting December 14, 1668, and appointed Lt.
William Clarke, Dea. William Holton and Joseph Parsons a
Committee " to consider the late order made by the Honored
General Court with respect to Hartford in the excise of two
pence per bushel." The doings of Connecticut created much
feeling, but finally harmony was restored by withdrawing what
would have been very unjust to the inhabitants of the Massa-
chusetts towns along the Connecticut Eiver, who had no

other means of transporting the products of their farms to
Boston.

In 1668 the town voted to give John King and Medad
Pomeroy twenty acres of land on condition that they set np
a sawmill, and keep it going four years. Failing to build it,
" Joseph Parsons Senior, making a motion to build a Saw mill
it was accepted & the land granted to him upon the same
conditions as was given to John King and Medad Pumery, &
the mill to go rate free so long as he keeps the mill going for
the Town^s use."

Trading with the Indians brought the subject of this
sketch into friendly relations with them and he appears to
have been consulted when important transactions were to be
concluded. He was a witness to the deed from the Indians
of Capawonk meadow in Hatfield and of the purchase of the
lands in what is now Hadley. Wequagon and his wife Awo-
nusk, and Squomp, their son, sold to John Pynchon, who
transferred it to the inhabitants of Hadley, that piece of land
on the East of the Connecticut from Hockanum to the Spring-
field bounds, taking in South Hadley and Granby. Some
fifty or sixty acres in Hockanum were reserved, " being," Mr.
Judd in his History of Hadley says, " mortgaged to Joseph
Parsons." These Indians "owed him 80 beaver skins for
coats, wampum and goods, and if it was not paid before the
first of September, he was to have the land. This land was
taken and afterwards sold by Joseph Parsons to the inhabi-
tants of Hadley, for a considerable sum."

In 1664 the Indians desired to build a fort in Northampton,
and " the men the town chose to deliver their mind to the
Indians were David Wilton, John Lyman & Joseph Parsons.
The Towns mind was declared to the Indians by us April 13,
1664." The terms as given were: —

" 1. First, they shall not break the Sabbath by working or
gaming or carrjdng Burdens or the like.

" 2. They shall not Pawwaw on that place or any where
else amongst us.

" 3. They shall not get Liquors or Cider & drink themselves
drunk So as to kill one another as they have done.

'' 4. They Shall not take in other Indians of other places

to Seate amongst them; we will allow only Nowntague Ind-
ians that were the Inhabitants of the place.

" 5. They shall not break down our fences & let in cattle
& Swine, but shall go over a Stile at one place.

"6. The Murderers Callawane & Wuttowhan & Pacqnal-
lante Shall not Seate amongst them.

" 7. They shall not hunt nor kill our Cattle or Sheep or
Swine with their Dogs; if they do they shall pay for them.^'

It is probable that Joseph Parsons had a more intimate
acquaintance with the Indians than any other inhabitant of
Northampton, or Hadley, as his trading with them must have
taken him to their villages up and down the valley. It must
have been a picturesque appearance that he and his dusky
friends made as they met to exchange commodities, — ^he to
take their Beaver skins and they the finery of John Pynchon^s
store. It was this intimate relation that made him so valuable
when any transaction with them was to take place. It also
gave him a much more extended acquaintance with the coun-
try and of the most desirable lands. In the spring of 1671
he and a small party from Northampton, William Janes,
George Alexander and Micah Mudge, went on an exploring
expedition to what is now Northfield and there concluded a
bargain for a large and valuable tract of land. Sheldon, in
his history of Northfield, says: —

" They examined the location and ascertained that the na-
tives were ready and anxious to sell the tract.^^ A bargain
was made and the deed conveyed to him, " for a valuable con-
sideration a tract of land lying on both sides of the Great
Eiver, (Connecticut) which is thus bounded: The Northerly
end on the west side of the Great Eiver butting against Masa-
petot^s land, and so running six miles into the woods on both
sides of the river.^^ This covered the original and present
town plot of Northfield, and embraced 10,560 acres.

The second purchase was after the plantation was begun,
"comprising about 3,000 acres belonging to a Pacomptock
sachem, lying wholly on the west side of the river." This
deed was made on the 9th of the 7th month, that is, July
9, 1673, and reads: "between Joseph Parsens Sen' and
William Clarke, both of Northampton, of the County of

Hampshire of the one party and Asogoa, the daughter of
Souanaett, who was the true and proper owner of that parcel
of land at Squakheag on the West side of the river called by
the Indians Nallahamcomgon, or Natanas, and Mashepetot,
and Kisquando, Pampatekemo, a squaw, which is Mashe-
petot^s daughter — ^these four Indians above named of the other
party, Witnesseth, that for and in consideration of the sum of
two hundred f athomas of wampum in hand paid by the above
Joseph Parsons and William Clarke, granted and sold all that
parcel of land lying at Squheag, and is bounded with the
Great Eiver on the Easterly side; on the Westerly side a
great ledge of hills six miles from the Great River, etc/^

This deed was signed by the four Indians and witnessed by
Timothy Baker and Sarah Clarke. It was assigned to the in-
habitants of Squaheag June 15, 1675, and these two tracts
comprise the territory of the town of Northfield during what
is known as the First Settlement.

Joseph Parsons is entitled to the credit of being the first
explorer and acted as the agent for the purchase. Sheldon
says: " He received grants of a homelot and other lands, and
bore his share of the charges of the first settlement, but ap-
pears not to have removed here in person. In 1683 he held
a grant of 90 acres of meadow, which required him to settle
three inhabitants.^*

His land at Northampton went to his widow in the division
of the estate and was held by her heirs for many years. The
town suffered from Indian depredations in the September
following the assignment of the last named tract and the
settlement was broken up, but resettled at a subsequent period.

From the date of Joseph Parsons* appointment as Comet
in the Hampshire County cavalry, 1678, it is evident that he
entered actively into the suppression of the war which dis-
turbed tTie entire settlements from Springfield to Northfield,
but the records of that period are not sufficiently explicit to
determine at this time the length of individual service. The
County Treasurer in 1681 in his accounts makes this entry of
payment: ^^ To Cornet Joseph Parsons for a debt the County
owed him for going after the Indians, &c., 5s 9d.** Whether
this was for military or in the nature of police service is not
known.

The Indians when they were in possession of the country
in and about Northampton were in the habit of burning the
nnderbrush in the woods that they might more readily see
and capture wild game, and for some purpose it would appear
that the first settlers followed the example, for we find that
the town appointed " Joseph Parsons to bum the woods on
the Easterly and Northerly side of the Mill Eiver, 2 or 3 miles
above the meadow commonly called Broughton^s meadow/'
Others were appointed to do a like service on the South and
Westerly side of the river.

The town for many years gave a bounty for killing wolves
of 10 shillings. The cars and sometimes the head was brought
to the Constable, or to the Selectmen, as proof, but more fre-
quently to the Constable, who gave a certificate of the fact
which was handed to the Town Treasurer. In one year Joseph
Parsons had six wolves to his credit. A few others were alike
successful.

In 1664 John Williston of Windsor was admitted an inhabi-
tant by Springfield authorities, *^ for Woronoco (Westfield) of
this Township and hath liberty to build on his land there
which he has purchased of Joseph Parsons.^'

In 1669, at a town meeting held in Springfield June 3, *' a
motion being made in Writing by Joseph Parsons of North-
ampton, for Liberty to Purchase a p'sell of land belonging to
this Township, of Thomas Copley: w% land lys at y® foote
of y® higher falls, his desire is granted, & also liberty to Build
&c according to his desire.^'

This land was within the present limits of Holyoke and is
occupied by some of the large manufacturing concerns of that
thriving city.

After having a very active and busy life of twenty-four
years at Northampton, when he had probably reached the age
of about 60, he returned to Springfield to spend his remain-
ing days. He purchased the lot of John Pynchon which was
first granted to his (Pynchon's) brother-in-law, Henry Smith,
and which was next south of the one granted to Elizur Holyoke.
It was 20 rods wide and extended West from what is now Main
Street to the Connecticut Eiver. On the east side of Main
Street was a lot of the same width extending across what was

designated as wet medow, to the high grouiid. The eastern
end, which must have extended nearly to the United States
Armory grounds, was designated as wood-lot, and that where
the house stood on the West side of the street as the homelot.
These pieces embraced 27 acres, for which he paid Pynchon
£130 pounds, nearly $650. This land is south of Bridge
Street, the north boundary being not far from the south side
of the street. Some years before he went to Northampton he
resided at Longmeadow, but prior to his removing to that
town he purchased a lot next south of that owned by his wif e^s
mother. Widow Margaret Bliss, who lived not far from what
is now Margaret Street. Whether he resided on that lot or in
Longmeadow at the time he removed to Northampton is not
now known. His Springfield real estate was sold a few years
after his removal. On that purchased of Pynchon in 1679 he
continued to reside till his death. The deed of this property
is on record at the office of the Register and can be found on
Page 63, Book A B. As this, after Joseph^s death, became a
subject of litigation, the deed is given below in full: —

"These Presents Testifie That John Pynchon of Spring-
field in Hampshire, in the Colony of Massachusetts, for & in
Consideration of the Sum of One Hundred and fifty Pounds
of Lawful money of New England, to him paid & Secured to
be paid by Joseph Parsons of Northampton, in Hampshire,
in the Colony afores^. Hath granted, bargained, & sold, & by
these Prsents Doe demise, grant, bargaine, & sel unto the sd
Joseph Parsons and unto his heirs & Assignes forever a Cer-
taine Parcel of Land, Late Timothy Coopers, deceased, which
said John Pynchon is Legally possessed of by Judgmt & Exe-
cution, w*^h Land being about Ten Acres home Lot, with the
Addition, & Seven Acres & halfe of medow, more or less, to-
gether with a Wood Lott of Ten acres, more or less, al Lying
between the Lot of Mr. John Holyoke on the North, & the
Lot of Mr. Pelatiah Glover, on the South, & being in breadth
Twenty Eod, the Length from the great Eiver on the West,
it Euns Eastward to the further end of the Wood Letts, onely
the Street or highway in the Town of Springfield runs or lyes
across it, between the homelot & the Wet medow, w^h said
Alotm* as before described of Ten acres homelot. Seven acres

medow & Ten acres Wod Lot, be the parcels more or less, to-
gether with al the buildings, howsings, woods, wayes, waters,
profits & Comodityes, with al the appurtenances & advantages
thereof, & to the said Land belonging, & in any wise apper-
taining, the said Joseph Parsons, is to have & To hold, pos-
sessed, occupied & enjoy, for himself his heirs & Assines for-
ever, & the s^ John Pynchon doth hereby Covenant & promise
to & with the s^ Joseph Parsons, to Save the sd Joseph Parsons
harmlesse from al manner of Claim of any Person or Persons
Lawfully Claiming any Right in or Title to any of the Land
above mentioned to be hereby sold from, by or under him,
the s*^ John Pynchon, his heirs. Executors or Administrators,
or any unto him there belonging, & do herewith give posses-
sion of al the above demised premises, to him the s^ Joseph
Parsons, to be to him the s^ Joseph Parsons his heires & As-
signes free from al Incumbrances & molestations forever. In
witness whereof the said John Pynchon hath hereunto set
his hand & Scale this 20th day of November, 1679.

John Pynchon, with his Scale

aflBxt.
Signed Sealed & Delrd in the

presence of
John Holyoke
Benjamin Hinton.^^

The right of dower was released by Amy Pynchon, the wife
of John Pynchon, to the above described property.

When the grants of homelots were made to the early inhabi-
tants a majority of them were 8 rods in width on the street.
That given to John Cable was 14 rods. The next south was
30, which was given to William Pynchon. Then came the lot
of Elizur Holyoke, 20 rods wide. Continuing south the next
was Henry Smith's, 20 rods; then came the ministry lot, first
given to George Moxon, the first minister, who returned to
England with Pynchon, which was 14 rods wide. With four
exceptions all the other lots southward were eight rods wide.
That of John Cable was sold to Thomas Cooper, later known
to the people of his time as Lieut. Thomas Cooper, who was
killed by the Indians when Springfield was burned by them
in 1675. This lot he afterward sold and purchased the Henry

Smith lot. After Cooper was killed it passed to his son Tim-
othy Cooper. When Timothy died he was in debt to John
Pynchon, who obtained judgment and execution against his
estate and took this property with other real estate, some of
which was situated elsewhere in Springfield, some in Albany
and some in New Jersey. Pynchon, as has been stated, sold
this, the Henry Smith lot, to Joseph Parsons on his return to
Springfield in 1679. After Cornet Joseph^s death it went to
his sons, Joseph and John. A suit was brought to recover
right of dower to this lot, the particulars of which will be stated
in another place. To make the locality clear to those who may
have interest, the writer will state that the John Cable lot
was located where the tracks of the Boston and Albany road
cross Main Street. Then came the lot of William Pynchon,
and the others in the order previously stated. The George
Moxon lot was occupied by his successor in the ministry, Eev.
Pelatiah Glover. Elizur Holyoke's lot after his death went
to his son John Holyoke.

After Comet Joseph returned to Springfield he was again
called to the public service. In 16S1 he and Jonathan Burt
were appointed a Committee to examine the Selectmen's ac-
counts, and his autograph is affixed to the report, which can
be seen on Page 155 of the second volume of the Town Rec-
ords. The same year at a town-meeting held in the following
May it was "Voted that these three men, viz: Deacon Jona-
than Burt, Samuel Marshfield & Cornet Parsons shall with
any three of the townsmen make inquisition and search After
y® overplus of all y® severall Country rates in the Severall
yeares past since y® unhappy Indian war, & to endeavor y®
recovery of it out of the hands of y® severall Constables, or any
other person or persons, in whose hands they shall find ye said
Monies. And the aforesayd Selectmen with y® Committee as
aforesayd shall have power to take legall Course by suite at
law or otherwise for y® recovery of the sayd overplus for ye
use of the Town, or to Compound with any such persons or
Constables where y® Money is found, as they shall see Cause.^'

The " overplus ^^ of the country rate, was the amount col-
lected to meet the Province tax in excess of requirement. In
levying the tax (pa3rment was generally made in grain, which

included the expense of shipment to Boston) it sometimes
happened that the Constable obtained more than was neces-
sary, and this overplus was occasionally looked after. In this
instance the Constable had a considerable amoimt in his pos-
session and settlement was made by compounding, — ^that is,
the authorities were satisfied to take what they could get.

At this meeting Deacon Burt, Comet Parsons and John
Holyoke were " chosen to joyne the Committee for Mr Glover
his house, to examine & ballance the Townes debts and
credits.^'

When Mr. Moxon left Springfield, his house and lands were
purchased by the town to remain forever for the use of the
ministry. When Mr. Glover came this property was given to
him, but later the authorities, remembering the vote that had
been passed, desired Mr. Glover to take other land instead.
This controversy went on many years and was revived by
Pelatiah Glover, Jun', after his father died, but finally this
dispute was amicably adjusted. The subject had been sub-
mitted to the General Court, which decided against the elder
Mr. Glover, and at a Town meeting " The Worshipful Major
Pynchon, Deacon Burt, John Holyoke, John Dumbleton &
Comet Parsons were chosen a committee to treat with Mr
Glover how to suite and accommodate him respecting the
General Courts answer to Mr Glover our Eeverend Teacher
and the Townes petition concerning his Land; how he might
have that w^^ may be just as satisfactory to him by other land
the town did formerly give him & y® said Corte did determine
not givable: & so make report thereof to the Town.'^

The fairness shown by the committee and their great de-
nre to do justice to Mr. Glover, and afterwards the town to
Ms son, who continued his claim to the property after the
death of his father, were highly commendable and stamp
them as men desiring to do what was exactly right.

In 1682 Comet Parsons stood at the head of the board of
Selectmen chosen that year. The full board was as follows:
Comet Parsons, Deacon Jonathan Burt, Thomas Day, John
Hitchcock and John Holyoke. The next year, Feb. 6, 1683,
he and John Holyoke were appointed a committee to examine
the return of the accounts of the committee for building the

new meeting house. This was the second meeting house
built in the town. The present is the fourth structure in
which the First Church society has from the beginning of the
settlement worshipped. The committee found that the cost
of the meeting house had been £400 5s, and that eleven shill-
ings were due to the building committee, John Pynchon,
Jonathan Burt and Samuel Marshfield.

The meeting house was built largely by contributions of
labor and material, pretty generally distributed throughout
the town. In the list is this: " To Comet Parsons for 350
nailes, 5s 4d; 25 foot 4 Inch planks, 3s, — 8s 6d.^^

His work was about over. He had been an industrious in-
habitant of the two great towns, Springfield and Northamp-
ton, from a very early day. He had shown unusual talent
whenever applied in directing the various aflEairs in these rude
frontier settlements, and he had acquired a very handsome
property, the largest, imless it be that of John Pynchon, of
any one in Hampshire County, an indication of his foresight
and enterprise. His death occurred October 9, 1683, little
more than 47 years after he witnessed the transfer of the
Springfield Indian lands from the Indians to the whites, the
very beginning of the efforts to convert a vast wilderness into
fruitful fields, — ^the beginning of that civilization which has
made New England known and honored far beyond its limits.
His place of burial is not known, but most probably it was in
the burying ground at the foot of Elm Street, which was the
first one laid out by the town. When the railroad from Hart-
ford to Springfield was built it was extended through the west
side of it, and in 1848 the town gathered all that could be
f oimd of the remains in those early graves, not removed by
their descendants, and re-buried them in the present Spring-
field cemetery. Those having headstones, not reburied else-
where, were placed along the eastern side of the cemetery,
near the Pine Street entrance, and the long row of monuments
along the path which can now be seen attest to the care that
was taken in the transfer of the sacred remains of those who
were the f oimders of the town. Such remains as could not be
identified were buried in a single grave, and a stone erected
which notes the fact. Very few of the very first settlers had

head-stones at their graves, as it was almost impossible at that
early day to obtain suitable material out of which to make

them.

Mrs. Mary Parsons, Cornet Joseph^s widow, survived him
many years, her death occurring January 20, 1712.

The inventory of Comet Joseph's estate shows that he had
property to the amount of £2088 9s. The appraisers were
John Dumbleton, his brother Benjamin Parsons, and John
Hitchcock. With the exception of the estate of John Pyn-
chon, who did not die until 19 years later, it was the largest
probated in Hampshire County for many years. His brother
Benjamin, who followed farming exclusively, had an average
estate at his death in 1689, but that amounted only to £222 9s.
A list made by the Springfield assessors in 1685 shows that
John Pynchon held in Springfield over 2000 acres of land, the
choicest in the valley, much of which had been taken by him
for debt, largely by execution or foreclosure. Credit was easy
to obtain and payment sure if the debtor held lands, at the
Pynchon store. But there is little to show in the records to
indicate that Comet Joseph Parsons was an exacting creditor.

Inventory of Comet Joseph Parson's Estate.

Of a Coimty Court, lield at Northampton, March 25, 1684,
there is this record:

Mrs Mary Parsons, widdow, Eelect to Cornet Joseph Par-
sons, Senr, late deceased of Springfield, presented to this Corte
an Inventory of her late husbands Estate, to which she made
oath, & power of administration is granted to y® said Widdow
Mary Parsons, to Joseph Parsons, Eldest Son, & to John Par-
sons, 2d Son to y® deceased. And sd deceased dyeing intestate
the Settlement of y® Estate is as follows: Here foUoweth a
Coppy of y® Inventory of y® Estate of Comet Parsons: —

Impr. ;f s d

To his pnrss & apparrell at 09 15 GO

To a house «fe homested in Northampton formerly mr
fBtches & 23 acres of medow L'd in Northampton
& moveable Estate, ded. to Joseph Parsons junr as
his portion, all at 225 GO GO

To his homelot & orchard yt was mr Williams in
Northampton & 23 acres of Ld in ye meadow at
Northampton & moveable Estate, ded. to John £ s d

Parsons as his portion at 160 00 00

To a homelot in Northampton & 23 acres of Ld in ye
meadow with moveable Estate ded. to Samii Par-
sons as his portion at 160 00 00

To a homelot in Northampton & 23 acres of Ld in ye
meadow with moveable Estate ded. to Jonathan

Parsons as his portion at 160 00 00

To 34 acres of Ld in ye meadows at Northampton at

£6 Pr acre 204 00 00

To all his Ld in Pascomock within ye Lymits of North-
ampton 130 00 00

To all his Lds in ye place called Wesnakeag-e at 40 00 00

To ye houses & Lds in Springfield in ye Town and at

ye falls at 230 00 00

To a house & Homestead in Boston & Eemayns of a
place &c for a Warehouse, ye house being burnt

down, at 300 00 00

To Liveing Stock at £45 15s, Swine at 35s 47 10 00

To Cart wheels, plow, harrow, Chaines, timbr Chaine

fitrs, all at 05 10 00

To Corn & hay £ 10 6s, One ox hide 15s 10 01 00

To shoes 15s, flax 30s, Peuter Vessells at £ 10 12 05 00

To Tinn & glasses 10s, Earthen Ware 10s 01 00 00

To Brass Kettles, Skillets, Warming pann & other

Small things 08 10 00

To iron pots £ 6 10s, diapr Cloath at £ 2 5s 08 15 00

To Lyning Cloath £45 13s, beds & bedding at £50... 95 15 00

To bedsteads 40s, Chest & trunks £ 8 15s 10 15 00

To boxes at 30s, tables at 40s, Silver plate at £ 5 08 10 00

To hats £4 5s, Sadie, bridle, pistols, holsters at £4

13s 08 18 00

To Chaires, Quishons & stooles at £4, baggs at 50s.. 06 10 00
To a Screw & Stilliards at £3, Cubbird Cloath & small

things at £4 07 00 00

To nayles £2, bees & honey at £3 15s 05 15 00

To a Cask & bolting mill at £2, other small tools 35s. 03 15 00

To Mauls 20s, Meale Sives & Corne Sives at 10s 01 10 00

To a Pannell & pillion with 3 yds Cloath £2 9s, 1 yd

Cloath 7s 02 16 00

To Indian Com 2s, Carte rope & spring wheels at 29s. 02 13 00
To braided baskets & flasks at 15s, bees Wax at 10s. . . 01 05 00

To Cutlash, rapiour & silk Scarffe at 02 10 00

To pillions 30s, Guns 45s, green Say 40s, Linning Yam

32s 05 07 00

To iron tramels, pothooks, fire pann, Chaffing dish and £ s d
irons all at 04 00 00

To betle Wedges & a Chain 15s, bellows, hamr, slice,

all at 8s 01 03 00

To a Looking glass 8s, pork hooks, tallo, Chees, butter,

Suiet 15 14 00

To a Cowle, half bushell Com treys, dishes, trenchers,

sithing dish 01 13 00

To a part of a Saw Mill at £ 30, Gun at 16s, hatchell 8s 31 04 00

To severall things at Josephs 40s, by severalls of ye Es-
tate in debts & Some thing Sold at £ 10 12 00 00

In John Parsons hands £86, ia Saml Parsons hands

£16 10s 102 10 00

In Jonathan Parsons hands £20, m debt due from

D. Morgan £8 28 00 00

To a part of a Saw Mill at Haddam at 12 00 00

To Hats in Hadley at £4 04 00 00

£2088 09 00
Taken Pr John Dumbleton
Ben]. Parsons
John Hitchcock.

A Statement of y® Estate of Comet Joseph Parsons, Sen',

deceased

Whereas by y® alwise disposeing hand of God (Joseph Par-
sons late of Springfield) is taken out of y® Land of y® Liveing,
his awfnll afflicting hand as we his Snrvivers desire Senceably
to be affected with Soe humbly to Submit to his holy will &
good pleasure & although s* Joseph Parsons by his Precedent
Care was thoughtfull & Studious Soe to dispose of w^ Estate
God had blessed him with, Soe as might bee for y® use &
Comfort of his deere wife & Children Sirvivers as aforesaid,
yet notwithstanding by Reason y* y® Last Will & testiment of
y^ deceased afore-mentioned was made about seven yeares
Since & attended with some imperfections w'by it was doubt-
full wheather it would stand in law y® deceased had Concluded
of Some alteration of s* Testiment & acted accordingly So
f arr as he had libertie & Advantage So to doe & accordingly to
his foure Sons had distributed while Living as in his book
under his hand appeares & by a paper in order to a further
declareing of his mynd to y® disposall of his Estate then the

^ 69

aforementioned will, w®^ was not perfected alsoe by Eeason
of Weakness & ilness Interposing incapacitating him accord-
ingly & therein is expressed tend^ respect unto his deere Wife
& two his four daughters, alsoe appointing to s* Daughters
£100 apeice & to his wife aforesd when all portions are payd
& set Out to Each Legatee aforementioned y« Eemainder of
his whole Estate (debts being payed) to be her free & abso-
lute dispose. And therefore we y® sd Sirvivers, have mutually,
agreed & concluded as to a Setlem* of y® Estate aforemen-
tioned, w^^ we intend humbly to propose to y® Cortes Con-
sideration & determination, it shall be as followeth: —

That Joseph Jun' Eldest Son to be deceased shall have Out
of his fathers Estate as his portion One Homelot with an house
On it which was formerly Bought of m' Joseph Fitch as it ia
Situate within y® Township of Northampton abutting On j^
house Lot of Sam^^ Wright Northerly, Town Street Southerly,
high way Westerly, & a house Lot of John Broughtons East-
erly, & three acres of meadow Land in the tract of Land Corn-
only called old Bainbow, Bounded by Land of John Lyman
Senr, Southerly, by y® Land of Deacon Judds, N'ortherlie> the
Eaine bow hill, Westerlly, & y® Eiver Easterly; Seven acres
& a halfe of Ld formerly Bought of John Bliss, Bounded by
Eainebow hill. Easterly, on a high way Westerly & Southerly;
by Land of John Woodwards Northerly; five acres of paster
Land Bounded by Land of Nenoenie Stebbins South east, &
Land of Jonath. Parsons, Northwest by a high way, North
west by Land of Nehemiah AUins South & land of Thomas
Bascomb, North & Easterly by an high way, & Westerly of
Isaack Sheldings; three acres of Grass Land in middle
meadow. Bounded by Joseph Boots Land South, the Ee-
maynder of y® deceaseds Lot North, & a high way West & y®
Eiver East, & in moveable Estate to y® valine of One hundred
twenty five Pounds w®h he hath already Eeceived.

To John Parsons 2d Son to y® deceased Land formerly
Bought of m'^ Williams, a homelot and Ortchard Cituate
within y® Township of Northampton, Bounded by a homelot
of Christopher Smith South, & by a homelot formerly Henry
Cunliffs North, high way Westerly, & Land of John Langtons
Easterly; ten acres of meadow Land in Northampton meadow

boxuided by a high way East & West, & Joseph Boots Land
Northerlie, & Sam" Wrights Land Southerlie; five acres of
grss Ld in middle meadow bounded by Ld of Sam" Bartletts
Southerlie, & John Stebbins Land Northerly, high way west,
& y® Eiver East; Eight acres & a halfe of Land bounded by
Land of John Holtons Northerlie, & Land of Sam" Parsons
Southerlie, a high way East & West, all w^^ is vallued at £30.

To Sam" Parsons 3d Son to the deceased a homelot Cituate
within sayd Township of KTorthampton, by estimation four
acres. Bounded by a high way Westerlie, Easterlie by y®
Comons, by a homelot of John Parsons Southerlie, & by a
homelot of John Alexander Northerlie; Eight acres of Land
in y® meadow. Bounded by y® Town fence Westerlie, a high
way East, by Land of John Bridgemans Southerlie & Ld of
John Parsons KTorth; three acres of Land in old Eain bow.
Bounded by W™ Millers land Southerlie, & Ld of Sam" Allins
Northerlie, by a high way West & y® Eiver East; two acres & a
halfe in young Eain bow. Bounded by Ld of John Hannums
South, & W™ Millers Land KTortherlie, by a high way West &
East; five acres of Land y* was formerly Walter Lees Land,
Boxmded by Land of Isaack Sheldings KTortherlie, & Land of
Eichard Lymans Southerlie, & by a high way West & East;
One acre of Land in y® meadow Commonly called Munhann,
Bought of Cap* Cook; three acres & a halfe of Ld Bounded
East & West by y® high wayes, & by Ld of Widdow Goodmans
Southerlie, & y® Eemaynd"* of s^ deceaseds Lot Northerlie, all
vallued at £130 10s, & in moveable Estate w^^ he hath already
Eecd i29 10s.

To Jonathan Parsons 4th Son to y® deceased a homelot
€ituate in the Township of KTorthampton, Conteineing two
.acres, bounded by a high way Easterly, y® Comons Northerlie,
& South by John Parsons homelot, & by a homelot of Sam"
Parsons West, And Mneteene acres of meadow Land of W°*
Millers East, & Land of Mathew Cleasons West, And four
acres of meadow in Munhann formerly Bought of Goodman
Hantchet, Bounded by y® Eiver Easterlie, & Ld of Timothy
Bakers Westerlie, & John Clarkes Land Northerlie & Land
of Alexander Edwards Southerlie, all vallued at $125, & in
moveable Estate w^^ he hath already Eeced to y® full valine
ot £35.

As alsoe to y® Widdow Mary Parsons, Eelict to y® deceased
all y® Bemaynder of her husbands Estae, both real & per-
sonally wherever it is to be found. Either in Springfield,
Northampton, Boston, Wesuakeage (Northfield), or Elce-
where, with all the privileges & appurtenances, Eeversion or
Eeversions, to be at her free & absolute dispose, with this
proviso, If she see Cause to make sale of any of y^ Lots, now
at her dispose, then y® Sons of sd Joseph Parsons Senr shall
have y® libertie before any other to purchase y® sd Lands,
agreeing with y®*" mother, & not to be alienated to any other
person or persons w*soever till sd Sons all of y™ refuse to
purchase sd Lands; as alsoe sd Widdow Mary Parsons Eelict
to y® deceased aforementioned, to pay or Cause to be payd
all debts due from y® Estate, & to the sayd Joseph Parsons
four Daughters One hundred Pounds apeice, to Mary Par-
sons One hundred Pounds, to Hannah Parsons One hundred
Pounds, to Abigaile Parsons One hundred Pounds, to Easter
Parsons One hundred Pounds, to be payd to j^ & Either of
y™ in good Current pay & other goods out of y® Estate, & at
such tymes as the sd Mary Parsons Widdow, can Conveniently
doe it, To all w®h as y® joynt agreement & Conclusion of y®
Widdow & her childred as to a Setlment of said Estate, &
an Issue of all further trouble, disatisfactions & disturbances
as to any Eights, Titles, Claimes, any wayes Contrary or in
Obstruction or Ejection of y® aforsd p^mises, but they may
stand & abide as a full Setlement of sd Estate, & alsoe agree i
to p^'sent y® premises as proposalls to y® Countie Corte for |
their approbation & Confirmation, if they judge meete & Con-
venient Soe to doe, to w*^^ as our joynt agreement we sd Eelict
& Sirvivers have Subscribed this 5th day of January 1683
(new style 1684) as Witness our hands.
Mary Parsons Sam^^ Parsons Abigaile Parsons

her mark Jon*^ Parsons Easter Parsons

Joseph Parsons Mary Parsons under her marke

John Parsons Hannah Parsons

Witness to this agreem*

John Pynchon Sam" Partrigg

Allowed & Confirmed as a Setlm* of Comet Joseph Parsons
Sena's Estate y® above sayd, as attests at Corte this M^^ 25,
1684. S. Partrigg, Clerke.

The death of Timothy Cooper brought a crisis in the finan-
cial affairs of the Cooper family, and the next year after the
homestead was sold to Joseph Parsons, the widow of Timothy
released her right of dower to Pynchon. The mother of
Timothy, who married Lieut. William Clarke, of Northamp-
ton, set up a claim for her third interest in the estate, and
the administrators of Joseph's estate brought a suit against
Pynchon for recovery. A County Court was held at Spring-
field September 29, 1685. The judges were John Pynchon
and Peter Tilton. What occurred in that Court is taken
from the records of the clerk:

"Major John Pynchon, Esq in open Corte, y® Widdow
Parsons being present sayd to her, the sd Widdow, that when
he sold her husband Comet Joseph Parsons the Land &
house that Sometimes was Timothy Coopers Once of Spring-
field, the sd Major Pynchon told sd Parsons that he did not
nor could not, nor would not Sell Goodwife Coopers thirds,
y® Eelict of Timothy Cooper her thirds, but Expressly Ex-
cepted it in Soe many words & sd that he woidd have it men-
tioned in the deed that he sold not widdow Coopers thirds &
that Joseph Parsons Eeplyed & said you need not mention
the Exception of thirds, Soe it be not expressed they are sold,
because the law gives the Woman her thirds, & soe Major
Pynchon Considering what hee sayd did not put the excep-
tion into the deed.

The clerk of this Corte being at Major Pynchons house
when Comet Parsons was upon purchase of the premises
sayes that he Eemembers their discourse about giveing a Sum
of Money for the freedom of the thirds aforesd.

Moreover, the sayd Major Pynchon declared in Corte that
after he had given the sayd Joseph Parsons the deed, he sayd
Parsons desired y® said Major to buy out the sd Widdow
Coopers 8ds, & what ever he gave for it costs he would repay
it to sd Major Pynchon & further y* sd Parsons offered sd
Major Pynchon £20 to Cleare the 3ds which he refused, not
knowing but it might Cost more, & further Major Pynchon
sayd y* Timothy Coopers Widdow being in Trouble Eespect-
ing her husbands great debts to sd Major Pynchon that he
gave her a discharge of her husbands debt to him upon y«

accoxuit of Joseph Parsons his Earnest desire that Major
Pynchon would procure his freedom, intanglements Eespect-
ing thirds, & because sd Joseph Parsons had offered him £20
for it, but he demanded more & expected £25 in money,
& told Widdow Parsons in open Corte that he would take his
tyme to Sue for it, or Eecover it if she did not Comply with
Mm, & desired this to be recorded/^

At the County Court, held at ITorthampton, the next
session, March 30, 1686, there was further consideration of
this suit, as appears by the records:

" The administrators to y^ Estate of Comet Joseph Parsons
deceased, viz: Mary Parsons, the Widdow, Joseph Parsons &
John Parsons, administrators aforesaid, Plaintiffe, & Major
Pynchon Esq defendant, in an action of the case for the neg-
lect of securing & defending sd administrators Right to Cer-
tain lands in Springfield according to a deed under his hand &
Seale, In which sd administrators are Molested by a Writt of
doweye to y® Relict of Lt. Thomas Cooper, alias Mrs. Clark,
& all according to attachments. Entry Money 10 shillings.

" In the action depending in Corte Between Widow Parsons,
Joseph Parsons and John Parsons, Pits, & Major John Pyn-
chon Esqr defendant, the Testimoneys & Evidences in the case
being produced & read in Corte & Comitted to the jury they
brought in their verdict that they find for y® defendant Costs
of Corte as Pr bill allowed of in Corte, 17 shillings.''

This left Widow Mary Parsons without redress, although
Pynchon in the deed had promised ^^ to save Joseph Parsons
harmless from all manner of claim.''

CHILDREIT OP CORNET JOSEPH PARSONS.

Births of these not on Springfield Records:

Joseph, b. 1647; m. Elizabeth Strong of Northampton.

Benjamin, died in Springfield, June 22, 1649.

John, died young.
Bom in Springfield.

John, b. Aug. 14, 1650; m. Sarah Clark daughter of Lt.
William Clark of Northampton.

Samuel, b. January 16, 1662. Went to Durham, Ct.
Born in Northampton.

Ebenezer, b. May 1, 1655. First on the list of Northampton
births. Killed by Indians at Northfield, Sept. 2, 1675.

Jonathan, b. June 6, 1657; m. Mary Clark of Northamp-
ton, daughter of Nathaniel Clark, April 5, 1682; Ben-
jamin Hastings about 1697.

David, b. April 30, 1659; died young.

Mary, b. June 27, 1661; m. first Joseph Ashley; second
Joseph Williston.

Hannah, b. August 1, 1663; m. Pelatiah Glover, Jr., son of
Eev. Pelatiah Glover.

Abigail, b. Sept. 3, 1666; m. John Colton.

Esther, b. Dec. 24, 1672; m. Rev. Joseph Smith.

Mary, Hannah, Abigail and Esther were married in Spring-
field.

Joseph's son Joseph had four sons, — ^Ebenezer, Daniel,
Moses & David, who married Springfield women, but only
Daniel stayed here.

The records of births, marriages and deaths in Springfield
were kept by Henry Smith from the beginning of the settle-
ment up to 1649, when Henry Burt, by virtue of his office as
Clerk of the Writs, began to make the entries, and he con-
tinued to do so up to his death in 1662. The record of the
death of Benjamin, and the birth of John and Samuel, is in
his handwriting. The Hartford records were very poorly kept
at the beginning of the settlement there. The birth, marriage
and death record is very incomplete; greatly in contrast with
what was done in Springfield. In fact, the Springfield rec-
ords of the general transactions of the town are much fuller
and more systematic than those of Hartford or of many of the
other towns,

II.

ON COLONEL JOSEPH LEMUEL CHESTER^S
ALLEGED ENGLISH PARSONS ANCESTRY.

By ALBERT ROSS PARSONS.

'* CoL Chester, a laborious antiquarian of the United States.'' (Dean Stanley :
*^ Historical Memoirs of Westminster Abbey/' p. Yiii)

Colonel Chester, of New York City, collected a fee of
$4,000 for making a search in England for the ancestry of
the Parsons family of Springfield, Mass. The result we con-
dense from the valuable and interesting "Hall Ancestry^*
(New York: 6. P. Putnam^s Sons, 1897), with comments of
our own setting forth the facts of the case.

" Thomas Parsons was a country gentleman of Great Mil-
ton, Oxfordshire, England, of an heraldic family, and the pro-
genitor of Deacon Benjamin Parsons' branch of the Spring-
field, Mass., Parsons family. The descent back to said Thomas
is clear enough.^' (Hall, p. 63.) " Hugh, son of Thomas Par-
sons of Great Milton, had Hugh and Benjamin, who emigrated
^nd settled at Springfield, where Hugh appears on the records
in 1645. Benjamin came over with Hugh, or soon after.'*
(Hall, p. 128.)

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register
(vol. xii. p. 175), preserves the following letter of the Eev.
Jonathan Parsons:

'' Newbury Port, Oct. 20, 1769.— You write yt one Sam-
u'el Parsons from Martinico desires to know from wt part of
England our Ancestors came. I will tell you as near as my
memory enables me, (as I have no records of the matter but
what I heard from my parent), I suppose my Great Grand-
father Parsons came from Great Torrington about 20 or 30
miles from Tiverton and not far from Exeter. He cams over

and brought my Orandfather Benjamin Parsons and other chiU
dren about 130 years ago, perhaps 140 . . /'

J. Parsons.
Samuel H. Parsons, Esq., Lynn, Conn.

Conformably to this. Savage says (Gen. Diet., art. Parsons):

^^ Eichard Parsons was at Windsor before 1640. He went
to Hartford and probably returned to England."

At Hartford, Comet Joseph Parsons was married. Thomas
Parsons, married 1641, resided at Windsor, and gave to seven
of his nine children identically the same baptismal names
which Comet Joseph and his brother Benjamin gave to their
respective families. Samuel Parsons, bom 1630 (probably the
youngest brother), removed from the Connecticut Eiver col-
ony to Easthampton, L. I. He gave to four of his seven chil-
dren the same names which were used by Comet Joseph,
Deacon Benjamin and Thomas Parsons, respectively. The
name of Hugh Parsons, which first appears in the Springfield
Eecords in 1645, or nine years after Comet Joseph witnessed
the Indian deed of lands at Springfield, is not found once in
any of these families, nor among their descendants. The
foregoing facts all combine to disprove Colonel Chester^s
" clear descent " from the Oxfordshire Hugh Parsons.

'^ Tradition has it that Benjamin was a brother of Comet
Joseph Parsons of Springfield. The English investigations of
Colonel Chester, however, make it clear that the two were not
brothers, as supposed, nor even related." (Hall, pp. 191-2.)

The original account-books of Pynchon, still extant in
Springfield, in which books Pynchon charges against Comet
Joseph Parsons' account goods delivered to his " brother Ben-
jamin" ; and Benjamin's testimony in court, in which he re-
fers at least twice to Joseph's wife as his (Benjamin's) '^ sister "
(i.e., sister-in-law), are not traditions, but facts of record,
which no hypothetical pedigree framed at this late day by a
baffled genealogist in England can obliterate.

^' Colonel Chester says that in 1653, Benjamin proved his
brother Eoberf s ^dU in London, and the Springfield records

show that he was married November 6, 1653, so he must have
gone back to England, and after settling his brother's estate,
returned to Springfield bringing with him perhaps the means
which enabled him to marry in November/^ (Hall, pp. 191-2.)

Marriages in early Springfield do not appear from the rec-
ords to have been noticeably dependent upon the possession of
any considerable amount of means.

It may be safely affirm-ed that no other young inhabitant of
Springfield ever made the long journey back to England either
to prove a brother's will or to obtain the means to enable him to
marry. If young Benjamin Parsons' resources were so limited
as to hinder his marriage, why shoidd the wealthy Oxford-
shire Parsons family have required his presence in England
simply to prove an English will? Further, where did Benja-
min get the funds to enable him to go to England and obtain
the means to return to Springfield and marry. Most geneal-
ogists would have concluded at once in the presence of these
two 1653s, which Colonel Chester himself noted, that Deacon
Benjamin Parsons of Northampton and the Benjamin Par-
sons of London were distinct.

'^ Colonel Chester infers from his investigations, that Hugh
and Benjamin Parsons, in their intellectual and social status,
were, in Springfield superior to those by whom they were sur-
rounded." (Hall, p. 128.)

Plainly this inference was drawn in England, and not from
the Springfield records still extant. As far as Hugh of Spring-
fi'eld is concerned, such superiority coidd hardly have been
true of him save perhaps when surrounded by aborigines! Mr.
Henry M. Burt states, after a thorough and minute study of
the Springfield records, that no relationship can be traced
between Hugh and the two brothers Joseph and Benjamin
Parsons of Springfield. In a historic despatch to Boston for
advice as to permitting the unhappy Mrs. Lewis to marry
Hugh, the worshipful Pynchon describes her as having " falen
into a leauge of amity with a bricke-maker; " * and in the

• Green'8 Official History of Springfield, p. 82.

witchcraft trials •evidence was introduced concerning Hngh's
alleged conduct in the capacity of bricklayer. As to Benjamin
and Cornet Joseph Parsons, Burt writes: " Benjamin Parsons,
who followed farming exclusively, had at his death an average
estate, but that amounted to only £222 9s. The inventory of
Comet Joseph Parsons^ properi:y, on the other hand," (which,
with his holdings at Springfield, Nori;hampton, and vicinity,
included a residence and a warehouse with a wharf at Boston)
"amounted to £2,088 9s — ^the largest estate probated in
Hampshire County for many years.*' The reader may be left
to draw his own inferences as to the social status in eariy
Springfield of the several settlers bearing the name of Par-
sons.

The true history of Colonel Chester's Parsons search re-
mains to be written. As far as it has become known to the
writer from the examination of Dr. Helton's MSS., and from
extensive correspondence and enquiry, it is here set forth.

When that " laborious antiquarian " was commissioned by
Dr. Holton to discover the English ancestry of the Parsons
family at the instance of Judge Levi Parsons, who made a
bequest of $60,000 to found a Parsons scholarship in Union
College, documentary evidence was put in Chester's hands
showing that Cornet Joseph and Benjamin Parsons were
brothers and that Benjamin came from Devonshire, England,
whence also came Jeffrey Parsons (bom 1631 at Alphing-
ton, near Exeter), the ancestor of Judge Theophilus Par-
sons, termed by Savage, in his Genealogical Dictionary, " the
most learned jurist that has ever appeared on our side of
the ocean." Not finding, however, in Devonshire what he
wanted as soon as he wanted it, Chester turned elsewhere. Had
he met with the record of the marriage to the daughter of Sir
W. Parsons of Black Torrington, Devonshire, of Colonel
Abednego Matthew, bom in 1629, whose father^s cousin Alice,
daughter of the mayor of Exeter (1552) and granddaughter
of Geoffrey Matthew, Esq., had previously married W. Par-
sons (see " Devonshire Pedigrees "), perhaps he would have
prosecuted his search longer in Devon. Under date of Febru-
ary 1, 1897, George W. Marshall, Eouge Croix, Herald's Col-
lege, London, where Colonel Chester's papers are in custody,

wrote to Professor Charles L. Parsons, of New Hampshire
College:

" Colonel Chester did not examine registers at Black Tor-
rington/^ And again (May 27, 1897), "I wonder that he did
not look at them to make his search exhaustive."

Quitting Devonshire thus after but an incomplete exam-
ination of its records, Chester shortly after discovered a way
to his handsome fee. Finding, namely, in a collateral branch
of the family of Sir Thomas Parsons, of Oxfordshire, the
names of Hugh and Benjamin, Chester, in defiance of posi-
tive and indisputable evidence, such as the letter of the Eev. J.
Parsons before cited, Pynchon's autograph evidence and Ben-
jamin's testimony under oath, declared, in effect, that neither
Comet Joseph, Benjamin, nor Pynchon knew what they were
talking about when all three alike spoke of the first two as
brothers. On the contrary, he boldly affirmed that instead of
the wealthy Cornet and Deacon Benjamin Parsons having
been brothers, it was the bricklayer and the Deacon instead;
that they were bom and baptized in Oxfordshire, and that
there was no room for a Joseph in their family. The natural
misgivings of his patrons. Dr. Holton and Judge Levi Par-
sons, both of whom were positive from documentary evidence
that Joseph and Benjamin were brothers, Chester seems to
have allayed by an artful appeal to enlightened self-interest
and to convenience. Thus, Dr. Holton, the life-long collector
of material for a Parsons genealogy, and Judge Levi Parsons,
who found himself indebted to Chester to the amount of
$4,000 for his work so far as it had progressed to that time,
were descendants of Benjamin Parsons. To them Chester
therefore reported that *^ Joseph Parsons' pedigree could be
traced, but that if his descendants wished to have it, Judge
Parsons should let them pay for it, since Joseph's descendants
were as rich as Benjamin's." So obviously fair was this prop-
osition, that it seems to have met with little or no resistance.
The acquaintance with Chester's methods gradually formed
by the writer of the present contribution to the history of

applied genealogical science^ led to his making inquiry of the
custodian of Chester's papers, as to the meaning to be attrib-
uted to the statement that Joseph's pedigree could be traced.
That is to say, whether it implied that Chester had a clue
which warranted him in thus aflirming the *^ traceableness ''
of said pedigree; or whether he simply committed himself to
the proposition that, like anything else of the location of
which absolutely nothing was known to him, Joseph's pedigree
could be looked for! Addressing upon this point Chester's
executor, George E. Cokayne, Esq., London, the following re-
ply was received:

'^College of Arms, London, August 24, 1888. — I find a
neatly worked up pedigree of the Parsons family of Oxford-
shire. In it Benjamin is called the fifth and youngest son of
Hugh, and is said to have been baptized at Sandf ord in 1627-8.
The names of the four elder brothers are given. There is,
therefore, if Colonel Chester had grounds for proving that
Benjamin was the youngest son, no room for a brother Joseph,
not does the name of Joseph appear ... in this pedigree,
which is probably in print."

Similarly, Marshall writes:

''Herald's College, London, May 27, 1897.— I do not
think Chester purposely left out Joseph. It is evident from
Ms notes that he failed to find him."

From Chester's manuscripts now with the Herald's College,
London, it is evident that Chester found no Joseph Parsons of
English record to correspond to Cornet Joseph, but, finding two
brothers in Oxfordshire whose ages approximated those of
the Northampton Hugh and Benjamin Parsons, he asserted
their identity, although the records showed sisters where Jos-
eph should have been and in spite of the American evidence
that Joseph and Benjamin were brothers.

History speaks of Comet Joseph Parsons as "a man of
action, of extraordinary energy, enterprise, and public spirit";
and of his brother, Deacon Benjamin Parsons, as " eminent
in the church, an earnest worker, and of great purity in private
and public life" — ^all "invaluable traits in the founders of
a Christian state."

By the present expose of the worthlessness of Col. Chester's
English Parsons' pedigree, the breach which it created be-
tween the descendants of Cornet Joseph Parsons and his
brother Deacon Benjamin Parsons from the Torringtons in
Devonshire, and Jeffrey Parsons from the neighboring Alph-
ington in the same shire, is closed, and the members of the
reunited Parsons family of America (where they have not as
yet traced their descent directly to some particular branch of
the English Parsons, to whom a modification of the original
arms of the Parsons family has been subsequently granted),
may safely assume the ancient arms of Sir John Parsons of
Hereford, among whose descendants, as will appear from our
next chapter, are (1) the Norfolk Earls of Eosse; (2) the Ox-
fordshire Parsons, after whom was named one of the earliest
settlements in the Barbadoes; (3) the Eadnorshire Parsons
from Springfield, Essex, England, whose Jeffrey alliance is
commemorated in the name of Jeffrey Parsons of Devonshire,
the progenitor of the learned Chief Justice Theophilus Par-
sons of Massachusetts, and his son Thomas Parsons, the Amer-
ican poet and translator of Dante; and (4) (a) Comet Joseph
Parsons of Springfield, Mass., ancestor of Captain Charles
Parsons, who served under Washington at Valley Forge, Tren-
ton, Monmouth, and Yorktown, and of Brigadier-General and
Brevet Major-General Lewis Baldwin Parsons, from 1861 to
1865 Chief of Bail and River Transportation for the Armies of
the United States; (b) Deacon Benjamin Parsons, progenitor
of the intimate and "life-long friend of Washington," and
subsequent chief justice of the Northwestern Territory, Major-
General Samuel Holden Parsons, of whom Captain David
Humphreys, in his poem " On the Happiness of America "
(" Yale in the Eevolution "), wrote:

Shall I tell you from whom I learned the martial art,
With what high chiefs I played my early part?
With Parsons first, whose eye with piercing ken,
Beads, through their hearts, the characters of men.

Oabden City, Long Island, N. Y., U. S. A.,
September 16, 1898.

Ill

THE NAME OF PARSONS.

By DR. DAVID P. HOLTON.

'^ The name of Parsons occupies a peculiar position among
English surnames.

" On the one hand are the names of landed gentlemen, de-
rived from their estates, as Norton, Wedgewood, Lonsdale,
etc. On the other hand are the names derived from trades,
as Smith, Carpenter, Mason. Lower than these are Hayward
(fence-keeper), Howard (hog-keeper), and Shepherd; while
these are above mere Tom, Dick, and Harry and their offspring
Thomson, Dickson, and Harrison, as these in turn are still
above the nobodies — ^White, Black, Gray, Brown, and Green.*

" Unlike all of the foregoing classes of surnames, the name
Parsons is derived neither from landholding nor from trades,
etc. Parsons means son of the parson, f John and Mary Par-
sons mean the parson's son John and his daughter Mary.''

*Thti8, an act of Parliament passed in the fourth year of Edward IV.
directed that all Irishmen within the English pale should adopt some English
surname which should be either the name of a place, trade, color, or office.

t Celibacy (from ccelebs— unmarried) was preached by St. Anthony in
Bgypt, in 305. His only converts lived in caves until monasteries were
founded. The doctrine was rejected in the Council of Nice, 325. Celibacy was
enjoined on bishops only, in 692. The decree was opposed in England in 958-
978. The Romish clergy generally were enjoined a vow of celibacy by Pope
Gregory VII. in 1073-85, and its observance was established by the Council of
Placentia in 1095. Marriage of the clergy was proposed, but negatived, at the
Council^ of Trent in 1668. (Haydn's " Diet, of Dates.")— Editob.

By F. MAX MULLER.

" The word parson comes from the Latin persona. In Latin,
persona meant a mask made of thin wood or clay, such as was
worn by the actors at Eome. Gellins informs ns that a Latin
grammarian, Gavins Bassns by name, who had written a
learned work on the origin of words, derived persona from
personare, to sound through. ^ And because that mask makes
the voice of the mouth clear and resonant, therefore it has
been called persona.^ Both the mask and its wearer came to
be called persona, and hence a very important double develop^*
ment in the meanings of the word. While in some cases per^
sona was used in the sense of the mask worn, we find it iix
others expressing the real character represented by the actor
on the stage. When we read of dramatis personce, we no
longer think of masks, but of the real characters appearing in
the play. After all, an actor, wearing the mask of a king,
was, for the time being, a king, and thus persona came to
mean the very opposite of mask, namely, a man*s real nature
and character. Thus Cicero, for instance, writes to Caesar that
his nature and person, or what would now be called his char-
acter, might fit him for a certain work. Nay, what is still
more curious, persona slowly assumes the meaning of a great
personage, or of a person of rank, and, in the end, of rank
itself. This sense of persona prevailed during the Middle Ages,
and continues to the present day. A man magnce persona}
means, in mediaeval Latin, a man of great dignity. We read
of viri noiiles et personati, also of mercatores personati, always
in the sense of eminent and respected. In ecclesiastical lan-
guage, persona soon took a technical meaning. Personatus
meant not only dignitas in general, but it was used of those
dignitaries who held a living, or several livings, but committed
the actual cure of souls to a vicar. ^ Persons are chiefly those
who let their benefices and churches to be served by others.*
These so-called personcB held very high rank. Personm
habent dignitatem cum prerogativa in choro et capitulo.'* We
read in a charter (anno 1227), ^ A canon shall not have in our

choir a stall in the row of the personce, but shall have the first
stall in the row of the priests/ As eeriy as 1222, in a council
held in Oxford, the question had to be discussed whether a
vicar shoidd fulfil the duties of the church or a persona. From
this persona comes, no doubt, the modem name of parson, and
it is strange that so learned a man as Blackstone should not
have known this. For, though he knows that parson is derived
from persona,* he thinks that he was called so because the
church, which is an invisible body, was represented by his
person. Blackstone, as a lawyer, was evidently thinking of
another meaning which persona had assumed from a very early
time. Anybody who had rights was, in legal language, a
person, and slaves were said to have no person by law. In
this sense, no doubt, the parson may be said to be the persona
of his church, but this was not the historical origin of the
ecclesiastical persona, as opposed to vicarius/^ (" Biographies
of Words and the Home of the Aryas.")

* Thus, in the roll of possessions of the Abbey of Malmesbury, North Wilt-
shire (adjoining Oxfordshire), we find, a.d. 1307, the name of William le
Person (English, Parsons) recorded as taxpayer to the Abbey. We further
note, in Essex, the name of William Personne, gentleman usher of the Star
Chamber, whose daughter Susanna was the wife of Sir Henry Maynard and
the mother of Lord Maynard, baronet 1620.-- Editob.

IV.

THE HONORABLE FAMILY OF PARSONS IN ENG-
LANb AND ITS CONNECTION BY MARRIAGE
WITH SIR EDWARD PYNCHON, COUSIN OF
WILLIAM PYNCHON, ESQ., FOUNDER OF SPRING-
FIELD, MASS.

By ALBERT ROSS PARSONS.

«< The honorable family of Parsons have been advanced to the dignity of vis-
counts and more lately earls of Boss.** (Bishop Gibson, A. D. 1725, in ^ Cam-
den^B Britannia*).

^* It does not appear that there has ever been any attempt to collect even the
materials for a history of the English family of Parsons, notwithstanding there
have been many individuals among them of great distinction, as knights,
baronets, and noblemen.*' (New England Gen. Beg., 1847, p. 263.)

We learn from Guppy (" Homes of English Names/' 1890)
that Parsons is a striking example of a purely south of Eng-
land name, not to be found north of the Wash. It is repre-
sented in most of the southern counties, but its great home
is in Wilts, while it is also numerous in most of the counties
around this centre, namely in Somerset, Dorset, Hants, Ox-
ford, and Monmouth.

The following diagram represents approximately the rela-
tive positions and the latitude and longitude of the English
shires in which the Parsons family has resided for 1,000 years
or more. The figures in the squares show the number of per-
sons of the name of Parsons to every 10,000 of population.

In order to realize the practical solidarity and near prox-
imity to each other of the various branches of the Parsons
family in England, it should be observed that the entire region
represented in the said diagram is included in an area of

about 200 miles east and west by 150 miles north and souths

2«

0»

Radnor,
10.

Heiefcnrd,
14.

Wocoetter.j

North-
ampton,

16.

S:g: Norfolk,
84. i 11.

Mon-
mouth,

80.

Glonoester,
14.

Oxford,
80.

Hert- ; Essex,
ford, i

12.

Somerset,
40.

wats,

80.

; Kent,
j 13.

Hampfihir^
34.

Devon,
10.

•

•
•
•

60°

Com-
waU,

17.

• ••«

62»

60"

or less than one-half of the area of the New England States.
Thus, for instance, the Parsons of Oxfordshire and Devon-
shire, England, resided nearer to each other than the towns
of Springfield and Boston, Mass., in both of which places,
A.D. 1675, Comet Joseph Parsons had residences, ware-
houses, and wharves, notwithstanding, at that time, outside
of scattered towns. New England was yet an unbroken wilder-
ness. Emigrants to such a limited area of country as the lower
part of New England might be wholly unrelated to each other,
although they bore the same family name; but it would be
remarkable, indeed, if emigrants of the same family name from
so limited an area as that of the above handful of counties in
the South of England were not all more or less related as mem-
bers of one and the same family of long-established promi-
nence in the region whence they came.

In order to get a bird^s-eye view of the ramifications of
the ancient family of Parsons in England, we may begin with
Herefordshire.

We note in this shire, in the Herald^s visitation of 14 Ed-
ward I., as the most ancient representative of the family so

far discovered, the name of John Parsons of Cuddington, a.d.
1284. Two centuries later, a.d. 1481, Sir John Parsons was
mayor of Hereford. In his armorial bearings is a leopard's
head (symbolizing military service in the Orient) between three
crosses (designating the crusades). The Parsons to whom this
coat armor was originally granted may have gone to the Holy
Land with Richard Coeur de Lion and Frederic Barbarossa in
1189, the last crusade that reached Palestine in force. This

PABSONS OF HBBEFOBD.
(A.D. 1096-1481.)

crusade, however, was a failure, as Cceur de Lion was only
able to get within sight of Jerusalem, twenty miles away, with-
out daring to attack the city, from which he retired, defeated,
to imprisonment. Hence, in the light shed by the laws of
heraldic sjrmbolism upon the crusader's coat armor of Sir John
Parsons, as it is further interpreted by the later arms of Sir
Thomas Parsons of Oxfordshire, it is probable either, (a) that
the original grantee was a knight who followed Robert of
Normandy, son of William the Conqueror (1066), in the suc-
cessful crusade of Godfrey of Bouillon, who, with one hundred
thousand steel-clad knights, set out for the Holy Land in 1096,
and, achieving the conquest of Jerusalem, set up in Palestine
a Frank kingdom that stood until 1147; Godfrey being elected
the first King of Jerusalem: or else (b) that he went with the
expedition of Richard, Earl of Cornwall (brother of Henry III.,
and nephew of Richard the Lion-hearted), who, landing at
Acre, " accompanied by the flower of the English chivalry,'* in
1239, remained in Palestine until the banner of the Cross was
once more planted on the ruined walls of Jerusalem.* For,

* The crusading barons of England met at Northampton, and bound them-
•elyes at the altar, to lead their forces within the year (1288) to Palestine^

the arms of Sir Thomas Parsons of Oxford, which, like those
of Sir John Parsons of Hereford, can only refer to the Cru-
sades, place the leopard^s head in the crest, surmounted by an
eaglets thigh erased, symbolizing victory in the Orient, and
display upon the coat armor two chevrons — ^a combination

FABSOMS OF OXFOBD.

signifying that the original grantee was eminent both as eccle-
siastic and as warrior * — ^together with three eagles displayed,

taking a solemn oath ** that they would not be hindered from fulfilling their
honorable vow by the cavils of the Roman Church " (Bt ne per cavillationes
Romanse Ecclesiaca honestum votum eorum impeditiretur . . . juraverunt
omnes." Matt. Paris, 461-463). The renown of Earl Richard for personal
prowess ** struck the infidels with terror/' and enabled him by their common
awe of his name and reputation to extort from them a solemn and absolute
cession of Jerusalem and the greater part of the territory of which the Latin
kingdom there, in its best days, had ever consisted. Upon the execution
of the treaty. Earl Richard quitted the shores of Palestine, and in his home-
ward progress through the states of Europe, was everywhere welcomed with
honor as the deliverer of the Holy Sepulchre.

On his arrival in Palestine, Richard found that the Templars, and the
Hospitallers had concluded discordant treaties with the Courts of Damascus
and of Cairo, which by a single movement of the Christian host to Jaffa, he
compelled the sultans of Damascus and of Cairo to abrogate. He had the
satisfaction of receiving from the hands of the infidels all their Christian
captives, among whom T^ere thirty-three nobles, many Templars and Hos-
pitallers, and five hundred knights and other crusaders.— Editor.

* The Crusaders' religious Order of the Knights Hospitaller^, or Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem, owed its origin to a hospice founded in Jerusalem
in 1048, by merchants of Memphis, for the accommodation of pilgrims from
Europe. An hospital was afterward added, which survived perhaps through
the habitual respect of Mohammedans for charitable foundations. When
Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Crusaders, a.d. 1099, the house was Joy-
fully opened for the reception of wounded warriors, and many of the
cavaliers joined the Order. In 1118, the Order of Knights Hospitallers of the
order of St. John became a military order. The Crusaders of knightly rank
who had enrolled themselves in the fraternity of the hospital resumed their
military^ toithout discarding their religious garb and profession; and thence-
forth the banner and the battle-cry of the knights of St. John were seen and
heard foremost and loudest in every encounter with the Paynim foe. The
government of the Order was vested in the Orand-master and general council
of the knights, all of whom were required to be of noble birth. When the

thus placing emphasis upon successive victories won. The
arms of the earls of Rosse,* descended from Sir Eichard Par-
sons of Norfolk, subsequently established in Ireland, bear
three leopards' heads, while the crosses of the ancient crusader
of Hereford reappear in the arms of the Parsons family of

PAB60NS OF NOBFOUL

Radnorshire, Wales, whose connections with the Parsons of
Essex and Devonshire will presently be shown, a further con-
nection between this Parsons family in Wales, and the Ox-
fordshire Parsons, being indicated by the repeated appearance
of the Welsh name Hugh in the Oxfordshire family.

FABSOMS OF RADNOR.

Thus the heraldic indications of the Parsons arms and crest
carry back the family patronymic, in connection with distin-
guished ecclesiastical and military services, to the time of
William the Conqueror.

Adjoining Hereford, on the east, is Worcestershire, where.

Christians were driven from Palestine, the Knights of St. John settled in
the island of Cyprus. In 1310 they departed to the island of Rhodes. From
thence they went to Malta, which was given to them by Charles V. in 1530.
Here their position has been retained to the present day and they bear the
name of Knights of Malta. The Christian name, surname, and coat-of-arms
of Sir John Parsons of Hereford, a.d. 1481, are all alike indicative of the
period of military ecclesiastlclBm of the Crusade, and of the institution of the
Order of Knights of St. John.— Editor.

* These earls take their title from Ross, in Wexford, the " e " being added
by way of distinction from the Scottish earU of Ross.

prior to the time of Cromwell, Dorothy, daughter of Sir
Charles Parsons, married Sir Charles Saunders, whose son,
Sir Eobert, married Arabella, daughter of Sir Marmaduke
Humphreys and became ancestor of the Saunders^ families of
Devonshire and elsewhere.

The next county but one to the east of Worcestershire,
is Northamptonshire where, about a.d, 1550, resided (1)
Ealph Parsons, who had a son (2) John, who married the
daughter of Esquire Cutler, and had a son (3) John of Boveny,
who married Elizabeth, sole heiress of Sir John Kidderminster
and had two sons; (4) I. Charles, b. 1625, d. without issue;
(5) II. William, and three daughters. This William (5) mar-
ried Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Lawrence Parsons,
by whom he had two sons; one (6) a colonel, who died with-
out issue, and the other, John (7), his successor.

William (5) was made a baronet by Charles II. He was
somewhat conspicuous during the interregnum, as may be
inferred from his giving a pass to a gentleman of the privy
chamber to visit Ireland. This gentleman, being taken by the
Parliament officers, was put to the rack.

Sixty miles farther east, in the county of Norfolk, toward
the close of the sixteenth century, resided the Et. Eev. Dr.
Parsons, Lord Bishop of Norwich, who had three sons: I.
Thomas, II. Sir William, III. Sir Lawrence. Of these sons,
Sir William (II.) married the niece of Sir Geoffrey Lacy. Sir
William was commissioner of plantations to Ireland under
Queen Elizabeth in 1602; surveyor-general of Ireland in 1611;
supervisor of crown lands (in conjunction with his brother
Lawrence) in 1620; knighted in November of the same year;
M. P. 1639; lord deputy 1640. From Sir Eichard, the son
of this Sir William Parsons, are descended the earls of Eosse.

Eetracing our way, twenty miles west of Hereford is Bad-
norshire, where, in 1634, the high sheriff of the shire was
Cecil Parsons, Esq., " descended paternally from the Parsons
of Springfield, Essex Co.'' (the place of residence of William
Pynchon, Esq., founder of Springfield, Mass.), " and mater-
nally from the Jeffreys of Prior, Co. Brecon.^' This Jeffrey-
Parsons descent reminds us that at Alphington, near Exeter,
Devonshire, one hundred miles south of Eadnor, was bom, in

1631, Jeffrey Parsons, who came to America and settled at
Gloucester, Mass. Meanwhile, it is but thirty miles from
Alphington to the Torringtons, whence, according to Eev.
Jonathan Parsons, came his grandfather^ Deacon Benjamin
Parsons, the brother of Cornet Joseph Parsons, of Springfield,
Northampton, and Boston, Mass. Here is a clear connec-
tion, through Kadnorshire, between the Parsons of Devonshire
and those of Springfield, Essex, the seat of the Pynchon
family.

In Devonshire, John Parsons was Burgess of Bideford in

1620. The daughter of the Mayor of Exeter, 1552,

Matthew, Esq., married W. Parsons, and Colonel Abednego
Matthew, bom 1629, married the daughter of Sir William
Parsons of Black Torrington. Barton Bree Stapleton, b. Sep-
tember, 1771, married Sophia, daughter of William Parsons,
Esq., of Plymouth, Devonshire.

Southeast of Herefordshire, where we found John Parsons,
in the Herald's visitation of a.d. 1284, is Oxfordshire, in which
appears the name of John Parsons, Forest of Wychwood, Ox-
ford, 28 Edward I., a.d. 1300.

The name John Parsons survives in Oxfordshire in all
branches of the family of Sir Thomas Parsons of Great Milton,
who was knighted in 1634, by Charles I. From him were de-
scended Sir John Parsons, Lord Mayor of London 1704, and
Sir Humphrey Parsons, Lord Mayor in 1731 and again in
1740.

In the " ISTew England Gen. Reg.'" for 1847 (p. 265), it is
stated that " The grandfather of Sir Thomas Parsons was
Thomas of Great Milton, who had three sons: I. Thomas,
II. Hugh, and III. Eichard. Richard (III.) had a son John,
of London. Some of this family were among the early emi-
grants to America. The first of the name we find in New
England is Comet Joseph, Springfield, 1636. There appear,^
soon after, Hugh and Benjamin. And family tradition relates
that Joseph and Benjamin were brothers, who, with other •
children, accompanied their father to New England, about
the year 1630. It is probable they came over with Mr. J
Pynchon.*'

In connection with the family of William and Colonel John

Pynchon, and that of Cornet Joseph Parsons, whose respective
wealth far exceeded that of all other inhabitants of early
Springfield, there has been a persistent tradition that the
Pjmchons, of whom William was conspicuously prominent in
the Massachusetts Bay Company,* and Comet Joseph Parsons
were in some way related.

It is well known that in the shadow of the Pynchons no one
in early Springfield prospered greatly save Joseph Parsons,
who, as a mere lad, was invited by Pjmchon to sign, as
witness, the Indian deed of lands. From the circumstances
of the case it would seem to follow either that, his youth being
considered, Joseph Parsons was, next to the Pynchons, the
ablest business man in Springfield; or else that, for some
sufficient reason, the Pynchons, who dominated and literally
outstripped everyone else in the town, must have highly
favored young Joseph Parsons f in permitting him so to benefit

* ** William Pynchon was a man of broad and aggressive thought; he was
remarkably complex in character. He loved both money and adventure; he
also loved the Gospel in its purity; he hated political corruption, and at the
same time he distrusted that phase of Puritanism which drifted away from
royalty. What was the real motive that led him to leave the quiet walks of
his Essex estate and to sail for the New World we will leave others to
conjecture. After Charles Stuart had risen from his bed, where he had fallen
in tears on hearing of the assassination of Buckingham, he continued the
fight for the divine right of kings by adopting two equally memorable policies.
The very month in which the king dissolved the Parliament which had bolted
Its door against the royal messenger, he signed the famous Massachusetts
Bay charter, setting over, in liberal terms, the Massachusetts wilderness to
Bndicott, Pynchon and their associates. Mr. Pynchon's importance in the
enterprise is evident from the first. He was not only an incorporator, but
was named by the king a provisional assistant pending the regular organiza-
tion under the charter. In May, 1629, he paid his " adventure money," and
in October of that year he was placed on the committee to carry out the vote
of the company to transfer the historic charter to America. The fleet of four
vessels, which sailed in April, 1630, bearing the charter with the seal of Eng-
land attached thereto by strings of braided silk, also bore Mr. Pynchon and
his feeble wife with four children. He started a plantation at Roxbury,
aided in establishing a church there, attended the first General Court at
Charlestown, and was made treasurer of the colony. He planned at once an
extensive beaver trade, and secured a license to trade in beaver-skins with
the Indians. Many causes conspired to persuade him of the advantage of a
still deeper taste of the Wilderness, and he resolved to settle in the Con-
necticut Valley." (Green's " Official History of Springfield.")

t This inference is strengthened by the peculiar fact, that after 1636, Comet
Joseph Parsons' name, unlike the names of other young settlers, disappears
completely from the Springfield records for a period of ten years. In 1646,
however, he suddenly reappears in the records and is thenceforth conspicu-
ously active at Springfield, Northampton, Northfield, Boston, etc., until the
yery close of his life. ' During that long period of disappearance, obviously

by his own undoubted abilities that he became and " for half
a century remained the richest man in the Connecticut Val-
ley '' (Dr. Holton), the " WorshipfuU Col. John Pynchon "
himself, perhaps, not excepted.

The tradition of a Pynchon-Parsons connection is further
supported by the coincidence that (according to Green's " Of-
ficial History of Springfield, Mass.''), at the time when young
Joseph Parsons appears in Springfield with the elder Pynchon,
a younger son of Pynchon was in the Barbadoes, where a
branch of the Parsons family of Great Milt on, Oxfor dshire,
was among the earliest and most infiuential settlers, one of the
Barbadoes settlements being named Parsons after this branch.

Hitherto, however, it has escaped notice that the Herald's
visitations of Essex in 1612 and 1634 disclose a connection
such as has always been surmised to have existed between the
families of Parsons and Pynchon, namely, one by marriage.
It is as follows:

William Hone, of London, one of the judges of Guildhall,
had two sons, Thomas Hone, gent., and John Hone, doctor
of civil law. Of these two brothers, viz., Thomas and John
Hone, the son of Thomas, namely, William Hone, Esq., coun-
sellor of the law, married Elizabeth Parsons, daughter of
Thomas Parsons, gent., of Stortford, Essex; while the son
of John, namely, Bartholomew Hone, married Jane Pynchon,
the sister of Sir Edward Pynchon, kt., of Writtles, Essex, and
first cousin of William Pynchon of Springfield, Essex, and
Springfield, Mass. Thus Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Par-
sons of Essex, was the sister-in-law of William Pynchon's first
cousins Sir Edward and Jane Pynchon. Of this connection
William Pynchon could not have failed to be cognizant. We
have seen that William Pynchon of Springfield, Essex, was
a puritan. We now note that among the pilgrims of the
congregation of Eev. John Eobinson at Leyden, prior to the
sailing of the Mayflower, was Joseph Parsons of Colchester,
Essex (father (?) or uncle (?) of Comet Joseph). At Spring-
field, Mass., William Pynchon was a fur-trader. Cornet

he forfeited nothing in the way of a sure footing for his subsequent success;
for upon his reappearance in 1646 ho entered at once upon his career of
remarkable prosperity.

Joseph Parsons also became a fur-trader, and Pynehon's suc-
cessor in the trade.

At the same time we find recorded in Essex the marriage
of Abigail, daughter of John Parsons. Comet Joseph and
Benjamin Parsons of Springfield, Mass., and Thomas Par-
sons* of Windsor, Conn., all had daughters named Abigail,
and both Comet Joseph and Thomas had sons named John,
while the name of Eichard Parsons, who went to Windsor,
Conn., and returned to England (Savage: " Gen. Diet."), is
that of several of the first earis of Eosse, originally from Nor-
folk, adjacent to Essex, England.

The only supposition capable of harmonizing the known
factors of this Pynchon-Parsons problem, would seem to be,
that Joseph Parsons and Pynchon^s younger son left England
at about the same time to seek their fortunes, young Parsons
joining his Pynchon connections at Springfield, and young
Pynchon accompanying or following his Parsons connections
to the Barbadoes. Subsequently, the prospects of Cornet Jo-
seph became sufficiently promising to induce his father {vide
letter of Eev. Jonathan Parsons, quoted in the preceding
expose of Chester's alleged Parsons pedigree) to come from
Devonshire to visit the settlements at Windsor, Hartford, and
Springfield, bringing with him Joseph's brothers, Benjamin,
Thomas of Windsor, and perhaps Samuel, subsequently of
Easthampton, Long Island. Their Devonshire connection,
Jeffrey Parsons, went first to the Barbadoes, and then settled
at Gloucester, Mass.

Since this supposition fulfils all the requirements of a sound
scientific hypothesis, it is entitled to be permitted to stand,
pending the discovery of additional and determining facts in
the case.

The England descent and affiliations of Comet Joseph Par-
sons, a founder of Springfield, Northampton, and Northfield,

* Thomas is the distinguishing Christian name of the Parsons family of
Oxfordshire, London, and the Barbadoes. In the churchyard at Great Tor-
rington, Devonshire, are the names of Thomasine, daughter of Walter Par-
sons, Ambrose, son of William, Richard, son of Richard, etc. (See ** New
England Genealogical Register.") Meanwhile, John Parsons, sometime the
celebrated organist of Westminster Abbey, had Thomasine, William, etc. The
unusual name, Thomasine, thus forms an additional link between the Oz«
iordshire, Devonshire, and London Parsons famlUea*

Mass., being thus indicated, this chapter may fittingly close
with the following, —

ADDITIONAL ENGLISH PARSONS NOTES.

1290. — ^Walter Parsons, a resident of Mulso in Ireland. How
long before this he or his ancestors went there we know not.

1481. — Sir John Parsons, mayor of Hereford.

1546. — ^Eobert, afterward the noted Jesuit, was born this
year, and died April 18, 1610. His father lived near Bridge-
water, England, at a place called Netherstoway. Eobert was edu-
cated at Balliol College, Oxford, and was early distinguished
for his abilities, but being accused of some irregularities he
forsook his country and resided for a time at Antwerp, Louvain,
Padua, Eome, Paris, and Valladolid. Becoming a convert to
the Romish faith, he propagated that doctrine with all his
ability, and was no small instrument in stirring up the vassals
of Philip II. to attempt the conquest of England.

He established an English college at Rome and another at
Valladolid, for such of his countrymen as might follow him, or
come otherwise into exile. He pubHshed several works, but
that by which he is best known is "Leicester's Commonwealth"
— ^a work of great ability. And although the pen of Sir Philip
Sidney was exercised in its refutation, he is not considered to
have completely effected his object. To the original edition of
Father Robert's work is appended a poem entitled " Leicester's
I Ghost," a great literary curiosity. The following is an extract:

Let no man think I exorcised the Ghost

Of this great Peere that sleepeth in the dust,

Or conjured up his spirit to his cost

To presse with dispraise or praise unjust,

I am not partiall, but give him his due,

And to his soul I wish eternall health,

Ne do I thinke all written tales are true.

That are inserted in his commonwealth;

What others wrot before I do survive.

But am not like to them incenst with hate.

And as I plainely write, so do I strive

To write the truth, not wronging his estate.

Of whom it may bee said and censured well,

Hee both in vice and vertue did excell.

" Parsons, the wily Jesuit, was so doubtful how the Lady Ara-
bella Stuart, when young, stood toward Catholicism, that he de-
scribes her religion to be as tender, green, and flexible, as is her
age and sex, and to be wrought hereafter and settled accord-
ing to future events and times." (Disraeli, " Curiosities of
Literature.")

1556. — ^Francis was Vicar of Eothwell in ISTottinghamshire.
There is a wood called Parsons^s wood in the hundred of Nassa-
burgh, in the same county.

1569. — Eobert Parsons was organist of Westminster Abbey.
He was a gentleman of the Chapel Eoyal, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, and was drowned at Newark-upon-Trent in 1569.
Many of his compositions are extant in manuscript and some
of them have been spoken of in terms of high commendation.
The following epitaph on Parsons is preserved in Camden's
Eemains:

** Death passing by, and hearing Parsons play,
Stood much amazed at his depth of skill;
And said, * This artist must with me away,'

For death bereaves us of the better still.
But let the choir, while he leaves time, sing on.
For Parsons rests, his service being done.'

»»

1618. — Bartholemew Parsons appears as the author of three
sermons — "First Fruits of the Gentiles/' "Assize Sermon,"
and " Dorcas, or a Perfect Patteme of a True Disciple.''

1624. — Sir Laurence Parsons, Puisne Baron of the Exche-
quer, Ireland.

1634. — Sir Thomas Parsons of Great Milton, Oxfordshire,
knighted.

1640. — Sir William Parsons, Lord Lieutenant and Justice
of Ireland. (This was eight years before Cromwell was ap-
pointed to the same office.)

1672. — Prior to this time Andrew Parsons, Gent., was of
Somersetshire, and Phillip Parsons, Gent., of Worcestershire.

1690. — ^Philip Denzill Parsons, knight, sheriff of the county
of Surrey.*

1704. — Sir John Parsons, Lord Mayor of London.

* " The sheriff of a county was a person of high consideration, called spee^
tdbilis in the old deeds, a * man to be looked at ' ; a title intermediate be-
tween illiutrit and elarisiiinut. Under Edward II., the office became a royal
emanation.'* (Victor Hugo: "The Man who LAUghs.")

1731 and 1741. — Sir Humphrey Parsons, Lord Mayor of
London.

1759. — Major-General John Parsons.

1767. — James Parsons, M.D., Fellow of the Eoyal and An-
tiquary Societies of London, published "The Eemains of
Japhet/* being historical inquiries into the affinity and origin
of the European languages.

1768. — Sir William Parsons, doctor of music, was from a
very early period of his life instructed in the science of music.
He attained the first rudiments of his professional knowledge
in Westminster Abbey under the tuition of Dr. Cooke. Ardu-
ous in the pursuit of his scientific researches, he, in the year
1768, travelled in Italy to complete his musical education. We
have not learned the exact time of his return to England, but
find that on the death of Stanley, an event which happened in
the year 1786, Parsons was appointed master and conductor of
his majesty^s band of musicians.

In the year 1790 he received from the university of Oxford
the degree of doctor of music. He next went to Dublin during
the administration of Earl Camden, in the year 1795, when that
nobleman conferred upon him the honor of knighthood. In
1796 he was appointed by the Queen to instruct the princesses
in music. In the same year his name was inserted in the com-
mission of the peace for the county of Middlesex, in conse-
quence of which he sat for several years at the public office.
Bow Street.*

(Salisbury & Co., " History of Music,^^ London, 1824.)

* In 1807, Sir William Parsons published a collection of poems in two vol-
umes, concluding with the following sentiment:

" Thus we play the fool with the Time, and the spirits of the wise sit in
the clouds and mock us " (Prince Hal).

Sir William's poetic confession is contained in the following,—

SONNET.

•* O'er half the convex world the ocean spreads.

Vast in its range and awful in its form;
The wild winds rage, the billows heave their heads.

The calm, inconstant— dreadful is the storm!
The placid stream, in narrower channel, glides.

With balmy breath the light-winged zephyrs play.
Green are its banks. unrufiBed are its tides.

And shelt'ring groves o'erhang its silent way!
So Fame expanded bears an ample breast,

Swept by the wild winds of the critic's rage;
So glides the humbler Bard, obscurely blest.

Who bounds to Friendship s eye the sportive page.
Let bolder prows the boist'rous deep explore,

I love the placid stream, the silent shore! "

To this sonnet he appends the following note: " When the author wrote

1806. — Sir Laurence Parsons, Commissioner of the Treas-
ury for Ireland.

1813. — Eight Eeverend John Parsons, D.D., Lord Bishop of
Peterborough (the same. Dean of Bristol, 1810).

1840. — The Eight Honorable and Lord Laurence Parsons,
Fourth Earl of Eosse, Knight of St. Patrick, Doctor Civil Law,
LL.D., Fellow Eoyal Society, Irish Eepresentative Peer,
Lord Lieutenant Bangs Co., High Sheriff, Chancellor of Dub-
lin University, President Eoyal DubUn Society; seat. Birr
Castle, Parsonstown, Ireland; Womersley Park, Pontefract,
York; Carlton Club. Died, 1894. Son of Third Earl, Presi-
dent Eoyal Society, and a distinguished astronomer ("Lord
Eosse's mammoth Telescope "). Heir; William Edward Par-
sons, Lord Oxmanton, b. 1873.

1855. — Eear-Admiral Eobert White Parsons, retired.

1863. — Lieutenant-General James Parsons, C. B. (the same,
Major-General, 1854).

1883. — Major-General ISTeedham Thompson Parsons.

1886. — Major-General Clifford Parsons.

1897. — The Hon. Charles Algernon Parsons' invention,
" the steam turbine-driven boat Turbinia made the speed of

this sonnet, he had a great aversion to publication of anything. His readers
are at liberty to compare him to Benedick, who wisely remarked, ' When I
said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I would live till I were married/
(' Much Ado About Nothing '—a title which well applies to Poetry, and to
most other human pursuits)."
Sir William's political confession may be discerned in his—

SONNET ON LEAVING WEIMAR IN SAXONY, 1790.

AyAourcrat 5e koi,
Movaucac tv aurw
Out vauro/xey ^tAoy

TpavtBav. (Pindar, 1 Olymp.)

'* Can I, by early independence train'd

A stubborn foe to forms and etiquette.
Who long have bow'd, obsequious, nor complsdn'd.

Forsake a Court— and own a deep regret?
Adieu! the spot, where Sov'reigns stoop to please.
Where, as of old, round Hiero's festive board.
Circles the harp, and triumphs letter'd ease,*

And Genius feels his ancient rights restored!
Oft shall the Muse, with fond remembrance, tell

With whom I stray'd these tasteful paths along.
Oft on the tender tales of Goethe dwell,

Schiller's bold scenes, and Wieland's Attic song!
And, parting now, I scarce refrain from tears.
Here have I loiter 'd months— and wish'd them years! "

* ** Men of letters were on a mnch better footing at Weimar than in any other part of Ger-
many. . . . The Dake has laid out a garden with more taste than ttie anthor has seen in
any other part of the Continent.^— EoxTOB.

'32| knots an hour in an official trial in England on April 10th,
This is about 37 J statute miles an hour.

" Turbinia is but 100 feet long and of 44^ tons displacement.
It did not seem possible that a boat of these dimensions could
be driven at such a terrific rate of speed by any sori; of engine
that could be floated in her, and incredulity was felt here until
a repori; of the proceedings of a meeting of the Institution of
Naval Architects, held in London at the beginning of the
second week in April, was received. It contained a paper, read
before the institution on April 8, by the Hon. Charles Algernon
Parsons, the inventor of the engines which were used in the
boat, and he gave a detailed account of the Turbinia and her
performances.

" Mr. Parsons is an engineer of high repute and comes of an
ancestor who did much in his time for science. Mr. Parsons
is the youngest brother of the Earl of Eosse and a son of the
third Earl of Eosse, the builder of the greatest reflecting tele-
scope that was ever constructed. This was the great star-gaz-
ing instrument, so big that a tall man could walk upright with-
in its tube, which was set up a generation ago at Parsonstown,
Ireland, the seat of the Earl of Eosse."

PAESONS AEMS.

" The crest is the highest part of the ornaments of a Shield of Arms. Its'
origin is probably more ancient than that of other heraldic bearings, since
even the heroes of the Iliad are described to us as wearing ' crested helms.'
The right to wear them was esteemed a very great distinction in the early
days of Heraldry, because they could only be acquired by those who had, as
Knights, seen actual service in the field. They were honourable distinctions
conferred upon the officers only, and not upon the men. Coat armour became
hereditary in the reign of Henry III., and crests began to be generally worn
by Knights; they are thus purely of military origin. Ladies can neither bear,
inherit, nor transmit them, and this rule is, and has always been, in force.
Hence the only possible right a man can have to more than one crest is where
more than one has been granted to his paternal ancestors." (Worthy's *' Prac-
tical Heraldry.")

Parsons. Viscount and Earl of Eosse (extinct 1764), con-
firmed by St. George. Ulster, 1682, to Sir Eichard Parsons,
created 1718, Baron of Oxmantown, and Viscount Eosse. Gu.
three leopard^s faces or. Crest, a halberf s head or, embrued gu.
Supporters — ^two leopards ar. spotted sa. collared gu.

Parsons, Earl of Eosse. Gu, three leopard's faces ar. Crest —

100

Out of a ducal coronet or, a cubit arm holding a sprig of roses
all ppr. Supporters — Two leopards ar. pellettee each gorged
with a collar gu. charged with four bezants. Motto — Pro Deo
et Rege.

Parsons co. Hereford. Gu. a leopard's face between three
crosses pattee fitchee at the foot ar. Crest — ^a halbert headed ar.
embrued gu.

Parsons. Sir Thomas Parsons of Great Milton, Oxford, 1636,
Sir John Parsons, Lord Mayor of London 1704, and Humphrey
Parsons, Lord Mayor, 1731. Gu. two chevronels erm. between
three eagles display or. Crest — ^An eagle's leg erased at the thigh
or, standing on a leopard's face gu.

Parsons. Island of Barbadoes; borne by the Eev. John Par-
sons, M.A., ,of Begbrook House, co. Gloucester, vicar of Mar-
den, CO. Wilts, son of the late Daniel Parsons, Esq., M.D., of
Barbadoes. Gu. two chevronels erm. between three eagles
displ. or. Crest — ^A demi griffin sergeant ar. beaked and armed

Parsons (Langley, co. Buckingham, Epsom, co. Surrey, and
Stanton-on-the- Wolds, co. Nottingham, bart. extinct 1812;
this family obtained a baronetcy in 1661, and became extinct
in the male line on the death of Sir Mark Parsons, 4th and
last baronet). Ar. a chev. betw. three holly leaves vert. Crest
— Upon a chapeau gu. turned up erm. a griffin's head erased ar.
beaked also gu.

Parsons, co. Buckingham. Az. on a chev. ar. betw. three oak
leaves or. as many crosses gu. Crest — On a chapeau az. turned
up erm. an eagle's head erased ar. ducally crowned or. charged
on the neck with a cross gu.

Parsons. C'lanclewedog, co. Radnor. Quarterly, 1st, or. a
chev. betw. four crosses crosslet fitchee gu. for Parsons; 2d,
ar. two lions pass, guard, az armed and langued gu., for Han-
mer; 3d., erm. a lion ramp. sa. armed and langued gu. a canton
checquey or and gu., for Jeffreys; 4th, gu. three owls ar for
Morgan. Crest — ^A demi-lion ramp. gu. Motto — Quid retri-
buam.

Parsons. Steyning, co. Sussex; granted April 23, 1661.
Per fesse az. and sa three suns or. Crest — A garb of quatre-
f oils vert, banded or.

101

Parsons, Az. two swords in saltire blades ar. hilts and
pomels or. pierced through a human heart ppr. in chief a
cinque-foil az. Crest — ^A tower ar.

Parsons. Of Overbury, Offenham; also of Hemmerton
Court, CO. Gloucester, az. a chev. erm. betw. three trefoils
sUpped, ar.

AMEEICAN PAESONS' ASMS AKD CONNECTIONS.

Of the above arms, those of Sir Thomas Parsons of Great
Milton, and Sir John Parsons and Sir Humphrey Parsons of
London, were " stated by the Eev. Jonathan Parsons in 1769,
in writing to his son, Major-General Samuel Holden Parsons,,
to have been the same claimed by some of the American
family. Professor Theophilus Parsons, of Harvard University,
in presenting Lewis B. Parsons, in 1867, with a copy of his
memoir of his father. Chief Justice Parsons, wrote in it, ^ from
your friend and kinsman,^ and stated that his family ^^ (that of
Jeffrey Parsons) "came from the same place in England as
did Comet Joseph Parsons, only at a later date, emigrating
first to the Barbadoes and then to Gloucester, Mass.^^ (Papers
of Major-General Lewis Baldwin Parsons, privately printed.)

As the grandson of Cornet Joseph Parsons' younger brother.
Deacon Benjamin Parsons, the Eev. Jonathan Parsons, bom
at West Springfield, Mass., November 30, 1705, was in a po-
sition to know from which branch of the English Parsons
family his ancestors derived their descent.

PARSONS GENEALOGIES.*

EDITED BY ALBERT ROSS PARSONS.

*' A lively desire of knowing and recording our ancestors so generally pre-
vails, that it must depend on the Influence of some common principle in the
minds of men. We seem to have lived in the person of our forefathers; our
calmer Judgment will rather tend to moderate than suppress the pride of an
ancient and worthy race." (Gibbon's Memoirs.)

" The whole conception of immortality undergoes an important change if we
regard the personal consciousness, with its ego, as a mere partial and tem-
porary limitation of a larger self, the growth of many seasons [generations],
as it were, of earthly life. The doctrine of transcendental individuality does
not conceive the soul to be wholly plunged into the successive bodies it con-
structs. We must not look for the consciousness of identity in the leaves of
successive seasons [generations] but in the tree which puts them forth. The
interest of the tree in last year's leaves is just the nutriment and growth
it derived from them. The experience and activity of one of our objective
life-times will be assimilated for results quite other, perhaps, than those
which the interest of the contracted ego proposed, and probably bear but a
minute proportion to the gradually accumulated psychical contents of the
whole individual. The constant aim of ethics is to bring the personal ego
to the point of view of the transcendental subject, to which the mere pleas-
ures of that ego are Indifferent." (Du Prel: " Philosophy of Mysticism," pp.
zviii, zvii, zx.)

" All of us, and every one of us, ought to know how we have come to be
what we are, so that each generation need not start again from the same point
and toil over the same ground, but, profiting by the experience of those who
came before, may advance toward higher points and nobler aims. • . .
What history has to teach us before all and everything, is our own ante-
cedents, our own ancestors, our own descent. . . . The past is darkness
to him who does not know what those who came before him have done for
him, and he would probably care little to do anything for those who are to
come after him. Life would be to him a chain of sand, while it ought to be a
kind of electric chain that makes our hearts tremble and vibrate with the
most ancient thoughts of the past, as well as the most distant hopes of the
future." (P. Max Miiller, 1889.)

*' To the careful student of social forces and results, the family history
will plainly exhibit such facts as these: that families continue to bear, as
such, definite physical and mental characteristics from generation to genera-

*A plan has been arranged by which additiouB may be made to these
genealogies at any time by addressing the Editor, in care of the New York
Historical Society.

103

tion; that these are maintained and improved in tLeir quality by thorough
education, and that they inevitably degenerate without it; that hardships
bravely met in one generation exalt the privileges and surroundings of those
succeeding; that the physical and social surroundings of a family exert a
long and a strong influence upon its whole future history. It makes gen-
erally quite as great a difference in the style of growth that a family exhibits,
and often through long periods of time, where and how it is placed for its
natural manifestation of itself, as where a plant is set, whether in much
sunshine or in little, and with or without much exposure to sudden chills
and storms." (Professor Dwight.)

I. EAELY EMIGRANTS FEOM ENGLAND OP
THE NAME OF PARSONS.

1. To America.

In early records the name Virginia does not neces-
sarily refer to the region to which that name is now
restricted. The purpose of the Pilgrims was to settle
in the domain of the South Virginia Company " some-
where between the Delaware and Hudson rivers." But
the captain of the Mayflower professed to be unable to
land there. Hence, while lying off Cape Cod, November
11, 1620, the Pilgrims formed a body politic under a
social compact to plant the first colony in ^^ Northern
Virginia," i.e., the present New England. It thus ap-
pears that the name " New England," given by Captain
John Smith in 1614 to the northern coast, was, in 1620,
not yet in general use. After the Pilgrims had officially
styled the place where they landed Northern Virginia,
naturally it would long continue to be customary to
designate briefly ships sailing for the Pilgrim settlement
as bound for Virginia. (See " The Colonies" ; Thwaite.)

Joseph Parsons, of Colchester, near Springfield, Es-
sex, England, the home of the Puritan * William

* " The most interesting phase which the Reformation ansrwhere assumes
... is that of Puritanism . . . which came forth as a real business of
the heart; and has produced in the world very notable fruit. . . . Look
at American Saxondom; and at that little Fact of the sailing of the May-
flower, two hundred years ago, from Delft Haven in Holland! Were we of
open sense as the Greeks were, we had found a Poem here; one of Nature's
own Poems, such as she writes in broad facts over great continents. For
it was properly the beginning of America; there were straggling settlers in
America before . . . but the soul of it was first this. . . • These men,
I think, had a work! The weak thing becomes strong one day if it be a
true thing. Puritanism was only despicable, laughable then; but nobody

104

Pynchon and his cousin Thomas Parsons, was in the
congregation of the Bev. John Bobinson at Leyden,
Holland. The Bev. John Bobinson and Joseph Parsons
were among those members who did not sail in the
Mayflower. This Joseph Parsons is held by some to
have been the father, and by others the uncle, of, —

CoKNET Joseph Parsons, who is the first of the name
of Parsons in the New England records.

John Parsons sailed in the Marygold, 1619, and was
enrolled February 16, 1623, among those then living
at the eastern shore of (South) Virginia.
8 (a) Thomas Parsons, aged 30, sailed January 2, 1634,
in the Bonaventura, bound from London to Virginia,
(b) Thomas Parsons owned an estate in Boston in 1639.
Savage says he may have been the same as (c) Thomas
Parsons of Dedham and Medfield. (d) Thomas Parsons
married Lydia Brown at Windsor, June 28, 1641. Stiles
says he may have been the same as Thomas (a) above.
He was an owner in Palisado Plot, 1650; agreed to keep
the Bivulet Ferry, 1652; served in the Pequot War and
received fifty acres for services then rendered; and died
September 23, 1661. According to the foregoing data,
Thomas (a), (b), (c), and (d) may all be one and the
same person.

(a) William Parsons sailed from Southampton, April,
1635. (b) William Parsons, a " Fifth Monarchy man,"
was admitted to the church in Boston, April 20, 1644.
Savage says he may be the same as William (a).

5 Henry Parsons, aged 14, and —

6 Phillipp Parsons, aged 10, both sailed, June 23, 1635,
in the America from Gravesend (a port on the Thames
for Essex) bound for Virginia.

(a) Joseph Parsons, aged 18, sailed July 4, 1635, in
the Transport, from Gravesend (a port for Essex),
bound for Virginia. On account: i, of the correspond-
ence of his age with that of (1) Comet Joseph Parsons;

can manage to laugh at it now. Puritanism has got weapons and sinews;
it has fire-arms, war-navies; it has cunning in its ten fingers, strength in
its right arm; it can steer ships, fell forests, remove mountains; it is one
of the strongest things under this sun at present! " (Carlyle: " Heroes," IV.)

105

ii, of the date of his sailing; iii, of his embarking from
a port near the Essex home of Pynchon; and iv, by tradi-
tion, Joseph (a) is identified* with (b) Comet Joseph
Parsons, (1) who, in his 18th year, signed as witness the
Indian deed of land at Springfield, to William Pynchon,
July 15, 1636.

8 (a) Eobert Parsons was made a freeman of Ljmn, 1638.
Savage says he may have been the same as (b) Eobert
Parsons who died at New Haven prior to 1648.

9 (a) Eichard Parsons was at Windsor before 1640;
went to New Haven and probably returned to England,
(b) Eichard Parsons appears in the Suffolk deeds, 1640,
1642, and 1643, as "captain and commander" of the
" pinnace St. John,'^ also styled " a certain ffrigot called
the John.'' According to the data aforesaid, Eichard
(a) and Eichard (b) may be the same.

10 (a) Hugh Parsons appears on the Springfield Eecords
in 1645, when he married Mary Lewis of Wales. He
died, June 18, 1675, at Watertown. (b) Hugh Parsons,
bom 1613, was made freeman of Portsmouth, E. I., in
1663; he enlisted in a troop of horse August 10, 1667,
and died in 1684. His family became extinct.

11 Samuel Parsons, aged 20, from the New Haven Col-
ony, united with the settlers at East Hampton, L. I., in
1650; he died October 3, 1728. The names of his chil-
dren suggest that he was a younger brother of Thomas
(3, d) and Comet Joseph (1).

^ 12 Deacon Benjamin Parsons, brother of Comet Joseph
(1), was one of a committee to organize a new settle-
ment at Longmeadow, 1651; he married, i, Sarah Vore
of Windsor, November 6, 1653, and ii, Sarah Heald
Leonard of Springfield, February 21, 1677; he died
August 24, 1689.

13 Jeffrey Parsons, bom at Alphington, Devonshire,
England, 1631, was at Gloucester, Mass., 1657, in which
year he married Sarah Vinson; he died August, 1689.

14 Mark Parsons, of Sagadhock, Maine, appeared, with
other inhabitants of the east side of the Kennebec

* Bee note on pege 118.

106

Eiver, to take the oath of supremacy and allegiance
September 5, 1665.

15 George Parsons of Boston, Mass., married Eliza Wheel-
wright, and had a son, Joseph, born August 18, 1667.

16 John Parsons, of York, had a son, John, bom July
31, 1677; took oath of allegiance, 1681.

2. To THE Barbadoes.

17 William Parsons, Barbadoes, buried in the parish of
St. Michaels, January 4, 1679.

18 (a) Edward Parsons was buried in the parish of St.
Michaels, Barbadoes, August 5, 1679. (b) Edward Par-
sons and wife, of St. Michaels parish, Barbadoes, reg-
istered in 1680 as having two children, two hired ser-
vants, and twelve slaves; February 22, 1692, Edward
Parsons, Esq., was appointed Secretary of St. Christo-
pher's, Nevis, Mountserrat and Antegua, and other Lee-
ward Carribee islands.

19 Frances Parsons sailed May 8, 1679, from the Bar-
badoes for London.

20 Captain Daniel Parsons, at the Barbadoes, bought two
convicted political prisoners ("rebels^') from Wey-
mouth, March 25, 1685.

21 Thomas Parsons was transported to the Barbadoes for
complicity in the Duke of Monmouth's Protestant up-
rising, September 25, 1685.

22 John Parsons was transported from Taunton to the
Barbadoes, October 12, 1685, for complicity in the Duke
of Monmouth's Protestant uprising.

11. DESCENDANTS OF COENET JOSEPH

PARSONS.

CoKNET Joseph Paksons " was bom about 1618, ac-
cording to his testimony given in court in 1661-2, when
he stated that he was 17 years old at the time when he
witnessed the Indian deed of lands at Springfield, Mass.,

107

in 1636.'^ * September 24, 1653, the Indians gave a
deed of the land at Northampton to Capt. John Pjm-
chon, and shortly after Cornet Joseph Parsons removed
here from Springfield. May 15, 1675, he purchased a
warehouse and dock, with privileges, in Boston, where
he had a dwelling-house and lot in Marlborough Street.
Thus he became a merchant of Boston. His name ap-
pears on the rolls of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery
Company of Boston in 1679. f November 20, 1679, he
bought a home lot from Capt. John Pynchon in Spring-
field, where he died October 9, 1683. On November 26,
1646, at Hartford, Conn., he married Mary Bliss, who
was bom in 1620 and died at Springfield, January 29,
1711-12.1

CHILDEEN OP COENET JOSEPH AND MARY

BLISS PAESONS.

I. Judge and Captain Joseph Paksons, b. 1647,
d. Nov. 29, 1729, m. March 17, 1669, Elizabeth, dau.
of Elder John and Abigail (Ford), Strong of Northamp-
ton. She was born at Windsor, Conn., Feb. 24, 1648, and

♦ Thus writes Mrs. Prances Holton, widow of Dr. David P. Holton, and
his collaborator in the Winslow and the Parsons genealogical searches. Mr.
H. M. Burt has failed to find this evidence in the Springfield Records. Where-
upon Mrs. Holton makes the following statement: " The items we gathered
were hastily written with pencil, but were always carefully compared with
the originals before leaving them. I regret to find that the authority was not
noted down in this case, but do not doubt the fact." General Lewis Baldwin
Parsons's records state that Cornet Joseph thus testified at the March term
of court at Northampton in 1662.

t A revised roll of this company, recently printed, transfers this member-
ship to " Joseph Parson, merchant of Boston, who married Bethia Brattle."
In 1679, there were two persons in Boston named Parsons and Parson, viz..
Comet Joseph, and Joseph, born August 18, 1667 (Savage). Cornet Joseph
did not marry Bethia Brattle, who was born December 13, 1666, married 1686,
and died July, 1690, aged twenty-four (Savage). In 1679, when the name of
Joseph Parsons appears on the above roll, the other Joseph Parson, and future
husband of Bethia Brattle, was twelve years old. Obviously this was not
the merchant of Boston then enrolled.

t The Bliss family was reported to have been great friends of Oliver Crom-
well, after whom one or more grandsons were named. Thomas and Margaret
Bliss first settled at Braintree, Mass. Leaving there in 1636, they journeyed
through the wilderness, living on wild berries and the milk of their cows,
until they reached the site of the present city of Hartford. There the father
died. Two of his sons joined a company that settled at Springfield. Thomas

108

died May 12, 1736. They celebrated their golden wed- '
ding. Joseph Parsons, Jr., went as a boy with his '
father to Northampton. He was one of the earliest
lawyers in Western Massachusetts, seyeral years instiee
of the peace at Northampton, and twenty-three years
judge of the Hampton County Court, being fiist com-
missioned October 16, 1696. He was a deputy to the
General Court fourteen years, twelye from Northampton
and two from Springfield, beginning in 1693. In 1696
and again in 1718, he was appointed Commissioner of
Oyer and Terminer. He inherited valuable lands at
Boston and Northampton from his father, and was a
man of unusual wealth and prominence. He held many
commissions from the General Court for public im-
provements in his part of the colony.* Elizabeth Strong
Parsons was the daughter of Elder John Strong, the
progenitor of the Strong family in America, f

Bliss was the first to introduce potatoes. Prerioiis to this the English turnip
occupied the place on the table now accorded to the potato. (" History of
Brimfleld/' p. STL)

Margaret, the widow of Thomas Bliss, was " Tery resolute and capable.
Two or three years after her husband's death she remoyed, with all of her
children except Thomas and Ann, to Springfield, where she died August 28,
1684. Of her nine children, Ann married, in 1642, Robert Chapman of Say-
brook, and Mary married Comet Joseph Parsons."

* ** Esquire Joseph Parsons was very prominent as a lawyer and Justice of
the peace, was first judge of Hampshire county court, 1698, of extensive busi-
ness, largely connected with political and military life." (" Northampton
Antiquities," Clark.) In 1711, he was commissioned by Goyemor Dudley as
captain of a foot company in the New Hampshire regiment commanded by
Colonel Partridge.

" In the year 1708, Joseph Parsons was directed to intercede with the goy-
emor against the proposed calling away of Springfield men to defend other
towns, and to ask for a garrison for Springfield itself."

" At a Legall meeting of the freeholders and other Inhabitants, May ye 16,
1706: It was agreed and voted; that the Selectmen should, in ye name of ye
Town, request, or desire the Worshipfull Joseph Parsons Esq. to be helpfull
to you, in yt affair in refference to their taxes, and bounds, wch hath so often
been managed in the Great, and Generall Assembly; but as yet brought to
no comfortable Issue for ye town." (" Town Acts of Suflield," Sheldon,
p. 164.)

t The Strong family of England was originally located in the County of
Shropshire. One of the family married an heiress of Griflith, of the County
of Caernarvon, Wales, and went thither to reside in 1545. Richard Strong was
of this branch of the family, and was bom in the County of Caernarvon in
1561. In 1591 he removed to Taunton, Somersetshire, England, where he died
in 1613, leaving a son John, then eight years of age, and a daughter Eleanor.
John Strong was bom in Taunton, England, in 1605, whence he removed to

109

24
25

27)

28^

II. Benjamin Parsons, bom January 22, 1649, died
June 22d, in the same year.

III. John Parsons, bom August 14, 1650, died April
19, 1728. He married Sarah Clark, daughter of Lieu-
tenant William Clark.*

IV. Lieutenant Samuel Parsons, bom 1652, died

• He married, 1st, in 1677, Elizabeth, daughter

of Major Aaron Cook; f 2d, in 1691, Rhoda Taylor.

Lieutenant Samuel Parsons had, among other chil-
dren, Ithamar, who was the grandfather of Judge Anson
V. Parsons of Philadelphia, and Aaron, who was named
after his first wife's father. Major Aaron Cook. Both
of these sons were children by his second wife, Ehoda
Taylor.

London and afterward to Plymouth. Having Puritan sympathies, John
Strong sailed for the new world March 20, 1630, in company with 140 persons,
and among them the Revs. Messrs. John Warham and John Maverick and
Messrs. John Mason and Roger Clapp, in the ship Mary and John (Captain
Squeb), and arrived at Nantasket, Mass., twelve miles south of Boston, Sun-
day, May 30, 1630. In 1635, after having assisted in founding Dorchester, John
Strong removed to Hingham, Mass., and, March 9, 1636, took the freeman's
oath at Boston. December 4, 1638, he was an inhabitant and proprietor of
Taunton, Mass., and a freeman of Plymouth Colony. He was deputy from
Taunton to the general court in Plymouth in 1641, 1643, and 1644. From
Taunton he removed to Windsor, Conn., where he was appointed, with four
others— Captain John Mason, Roger Ludlow, Israel Stoughton, and Henry
Wolcott, all very leading men In the new colony—** to superintend and bring
forward the settlement of the place." In 1659 he removed to Northampton,
Mass., where he lived forty years, and was a leading man in the affairs of
the town and church. The church records at Northampton tell us that,
*' after solemn and extraordinary seeking to Ood for his direction and bless-
ing, the church chose John Strong ruling elder." He was ordained June 24,
1663, by the imposition of the hands of the pastor. Rev. Eleazer Mather.
Elizabeth Strong's mother was Abigail Ford, whose father, Thomas Ford,
came to America on the ship Mary and John, and founded, with the rest of
the company, the new Dorchester of the new world. Great pains were taken
to form this company of such materials as should compose a well-ordered
settlement containing all the elements of an independent community. Several
gentlemen past middle life, with adult families and good estates, were added.
Henry Wolcott, Thomas Ford, and four others were of this class. (" History
of Dorchester.") Thomas Ford was one of the early settlers of Windsor,
Conn.

* Lieutenant Clark, with his wife Sarah, was a member of the Dorchester
Church as early as 1637. In 1659 they removed to Northampton, five years
after its first settlement.

t Major Aaron Cook, whose second wife was a daughter of Thomas Ford of
Northampton, was at Windsor, Conn., in 1640, and appears at Northampton
in 1661, where he was chosen representative to the General Court, as also at
Hadley, whither he subsequently removed. He was a man of great energy,
and a devoted friend to the regicides, Goffe and Whalley.

110

82
88

V. Ebenezer Parsons, bom 1655, died September 2,
1675, aged twenty years. He was the first white child
bom in Northampton, and was killed at Northfield, in
a fight with the Indians.

VI. Jonathan Parsons, bom 1657, died 1694. He
married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Clark.

VII. David Parsons was bom 1659 and died young.

VIII. Mary Parsons, bom 1661, died 1711. She mar-
ried, 1st, Joseph Ashley, bom 1651, died, 1698; and 2d,
Joseph Williston. Their son, Joseph Williston, Jr.,*
bom December 28, 1700, died August 21, 1747, married,
1727, Hannah Stebbins, daughter of Thomas Stebbins
and Sarah Strong, who was bom August 17, 1706.

IX. Hannah Parsons, bom 1663, died 1739. She
married Eev. Peletiah Glover f of Springfield.

* Joseph Williston, Jr., had, among other children. Rev. Noah Williston,
bom 1733; Tale College 1757; died at West Haven, Conn., 1811. Rev. Noah
Williston married Hannah Payson, daughter of Deacon Joshua Payson of
Pomfret, Conn. Rey. Noah Williston had, among other children, Rev. Payson
Williston, 1764-1856, who was the father of Hon. Samuel Williston of East-
hampton, Mass., born June 17, 1795. Hon. Samuel Williston married, 1822,
Emily Graves of WUliamsburgh, Mass., daughter of Elnathan Graves and
Lydia Pomeroy. Hon. Samuel Williston was State Senator 1841-42; founded
Williston Seminary at Easthampton, to which he gave $250,000, and founded
two professorships at Amherst with |50,000, etc. Sarah Williston (sister of
Hon. Samuel) was born January 21, 1800, and died July 1, 1833; she married,
December 4, 1818, Josiah Dwlght Whitney of Northampton. Among their
children were Professor Josiah Dwlght Whitney, of Harvard College (bom
November, 1819), Professor of (Geology and Metallurgy; and Professor Will-
iam Dwlght Whitney, of Yale College (born Pebmary, 1827), Professor of
Sanscrit and Comparative Philology. Sarah Williston, bom June 14, 1765,
the second child of Rev. Noah (bom 1733), married, August 30, 1763, Rev.
Richard Salter Storrs (son of Rev. John Storrs of Mansfield, Conn., and
Southold, L. I., and his wife, the widow Eunice Howe, n6e Conant, daughter
of Shubael Conant and the daughter of Rev. Eleazer Williams of Mansfield).
This Rev. Richard Salter Storrs settled at Longmeadow, Mass., where he died
in 1819. His son. Rev. Richard Salter (2) Storrs, born February 6, 1787, settled
at Braintree, Mass., July, 1811. He married, 1st, in 1812, Sarah Strong Wood-
hull, daughter of Rev. Nathan Woodhull; 2d, in 1819, Harriet Moore of
Boston; and 3d, in 1835, Anne Stebbins, daughter of Rev. Stephen Williams
Stebbins of Westhaven, Conn., and Eunicia, daughter of Rev. Nicholas
Street. His son. Rev. Richard Salter (3) Storrs, born August 21, 1821, has
been, since 1846, pastor of the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, N. Y.

t February 3, 1685, the inhabitants of Springfield, Mass., in dividing the
common lands among the 123 heads of families or legal citizens, included by
a special vote a gift of land to *' our reverend teacher, Mr. Peletiah Glover."
*' In 1661, a young minister named Glover was settled over the Springfield
church, after nine years vacancy in the pulpit. He was a worthy instrument
in the hand of Providence for the advancement of the community. The dark
interim closed, and the people must have felt the old confidence return with

86
37

39
40
41
42
48
44

111

X. Abigail Parsons, bom 1666, died 1689. She mar-
ried John Colton, and died shortly afterward, leaving
a daughter, who married Francis Griswold * of Windsor,
Conn.

XL Esther Parsons and ) bom and. died. September

XII. Benjamin Parsons, ) 11, 167^

XIII. Esther Parsons, bom 1674, died 1760. She
married Eev. Joseph Smith, who taught school at Hadley
and at Springfield, was ordained Presbyterian minister,
and installed first at Brookfield and then at Middletown,
Conn.

CHILDEEN OP HON. JOSEPH AND ELIZABETH

(STEONG) PAESONS.

I. Eev. Joseph Parsons, b. June 28, 1671-^; gradu-
ated at Harvard 1697.

II. Lieutenant John Parsons, b. January 11, 1674;
d. September 4, 1746.

III. Captain Ebenezer Parsons, b. December 31, 1675;
d. July 1, 1744.

IV. Elizabeth Parsons, b. Febmary 3, 1678; d. April
17, 1763.

V. Eev. David Parsons, b. Febmary 1, 1680; grad-
uated at Harvard 1705.

VI. Josiah Parsons, b. January 2, 1682; d. April 12,
1768.

Vn. Daniel Parsons, b. August, 1685; m., June 17,
1704, Abigail Cooley.

the renewal of the stated means of grace." By 1678 the " Rev. Mr. Glover, a
man of great energy and studious application, had contributed materially in
the direction of the town's activities." ** Mr. Glover was a man of great
tenacity of purpose." Mr. Glover early ** opened an account at the Pynchon
store, and not only traded out Mr. Pynchon's ministry rates, but anticipated
the money due from others of the congregation, which, sad to relate, were
often allowed to go unpaid until the town stepped in and made the minister
good." His death, in 1692, left the Springfield pulpit vacant for two years.

* Francis Griswold was born in England and came to America with his
father, Edward, in 1639. Edward Griswold, bom in England in 1607, was the
brother of Matthew Griswold, progenitor of the two governors of Connecticut
of that name, who came to America with him.

112

46 1 VIII. Moses Parsons, b. June 15, 1687; d. September
36, 1754.

47 IX. Abigail Parsons, b. January, 1763; d. August 17,
17^3.

48 X. Noah Parsons, b. August 15, 1692; d. October 27,
1779; m., Jamfary 17, 1712, Mindwell Edwards.

Captain Ebenezer Parsons was bom at Northamp-
ton, December 31, 1675. He married at Springfield,
December 15, 1703, Mercy Stebbins, bom Febmary
12, 1683, died November 1, 1753. Ebenezer Parsons in-
herited the military spirit and prominence in town af-
fairs which both his father and his grandfather had
possessed. He served almost continuously from 1721
until his death as selectman of Northampton. He held
an ensigncy in the militia in defence of Northampton
as early as 1723, and afterward he arose to the command
of a company, for, although no record of his appoint-
ment has been found, he is designated as captain on the
Northampton town records, in his will, and on his
gravestone. He was one of the three citizens who, in
1721, purchased the whole of Northampton's portion
of the entire £50,000 Province Bills " lately ordered to
be made by the Government " by reason of " the scarcity
of money and the want of other medium of commerce.**
He was the owner of the original Parsons Homestead
in Northampton.

Mercy Stebbins Parsons (French, Kinsley, Bartlett
descent) was the daughter of Samuel Stebbins and Mary
French. Her great grandfather was Eowland Stebbins
of Stebbing, Essex County, England. Her grandfather,
John Stebbins, was the only person who escaped unhurt
from the Bloody Brook massacre at Deerfield,

118

CHILDREN OF CAPTAIN" EBENEZER AND

MEBCY (STEBBINS) PARSONS; ALL

BORN AT NORTHAMPTON.

49 I. Mercy Parsons, b. January 1, 1706; m., November
30, 1732, Moses Kinsley.

50 II. Ebenezer Parsons, b. August 1, 1711; d. Novem-
ber 4, 1711.

61 III. Ebenezer Parsons, b. January 7, 1713; d. young.

52 IV. Simeon Parsons, b. April 27, 1716; d. May 27,
1727.

53 V. Elihu Parsons, b. March 14, 1719; d. August 22,
1785.

54 VI. Rachel Parsons, b. July 14, 1721.

55 VII. Lieutenant Benjamin Parsons, b. October 2,
1723; d. April 1, 1777.

56 VIII. Lydia Parsons, b. July 28, 1726; d. 1727.

57 IX. Simeon Parsons, b. February 11, 1731.

Lieutenant Benjamin Pabsons, bom at North-
ampton, Mass., October 2, 1723, married, 1746, Rebecca
Sheldon, bom December 6, 1727; died October 28,
1811. He was early engaged in military affairs, and in
1745 was a private in Captain William Williams's com-
pany at the siege of Louisburg. In 1747 and 1748 he
was stationed at Fort Massachusetts as "sentinel" in
the company of Captain William Lyman, engaged in the
defence of the then Western frontier. He was also a
soldier in the French and Indian War, and was there
promoted to a lieutenancy. In 1776, being enfeebled
and too old to take an active part in the Revolution,
he removed, with his sons Ebenezer, Solomon, Silas, and
Benjamin, from Northampton to Goshen, Mass., where
he took up an allotment in the so-called " Chesterfield
Gore,'' a grant of land given to the descendants of a
portion of the 840 soldiers who took part in the Narra-
raganset Expedition in King Philip's War to satisfy

those to whom " Narragansett township No. 4 " had been
given, and which had proved unfit for settlement. He
died of smallpox within a year of his removal.

Rebecca Sheldon (Strong, Ford, Clapp, Holton,
Marshfield, Wright, Woodward, Hinsdale, Johnson,
Cheney, Blott, and Woodford descent) was the daughter
of Benjamin Sheldon and Mary Strong of Northampton.
Her great-great-grandfather was Isaac Sheldon of Dor-
chester, England, who settled with his son Isaac in
Windsor, Conn. Her great-great-grandfather Robert
Hinsdale was a member of the Ancient and Honorable
Artillery Company of Boston, and both he and his son
Samuel Hinsdale were killed at the Bloody Brook mas-
sacre at Deerfield.

CHILDREN OF LIEUTENANT BENJAMIN AND 55
REBECCA (SHELDON) PARSONS.

58 I. Jerusha Parsons, b. September 22, 1750.

59 II. Ebenezer Parsons, b. December 26, 1751.

60 III. Mercy Parsons, b. November 29, 1753; m. Jed.
Buckingham.

61 IV. Hannah Parsons, b. July 1, 1755; m. Cyrus Lyon.

62 V. Susannah Parsons, b. December 1, 1757; m. Colo-
nel Nehemiah May.

63 VI. Rev. Justin Sheldon Parsons, b. July 19, 1759.

64 The Rev. Justin Sheldon Parsons had, among others, Lucretia

65 Parsons and the Rev. Levi Parsons, who died young in Alexandria,
Egypt, while visiting the missionary stations of the East in behalf
of the American Board of Foreign Missions.

Lucretia Parsons (64) married the Rev. Daniel Oliver Morton, and
had, among others, Levi Parsons Morton, Vice-President of the
United States from 1889 to 1893.

66 VII. Rev. Silas Parsons, b. September 26, 1761.

67 VIII. Solomon Parsons, b. August 28, 1763; d. Jan-
uary 26, 1815.

68 IX. Rebecca Parsons, b. August 4, 1766; m. Thad.
Naramore.

69 X. Rev. Benjamin Parsons, b. February 20, 1769.

115

72
73

75
76

' Solomon Pabsons, bom at Northampton, Mass., Au- 67
gust 28, 1763, married, November 25, 1790, Lucinda
PACKA.BD, born April 8, 1765; died July 6, 1850; daugh-
ter of Joshua Packard. He kept a tavern in Goshen,
1791, and was selectman 1802 and deputy sheriflE for
several years.

Lucinda Packard^s (Howard and Bryant descent) an-
cestor Samuel Packard came from England to Hingham
in ship Diligent, in 1638. The family resided in East
Bridgewater, Mass., until her father, Joshua Packard,
who had been a soldier in both the French and Indian
and Eevolutionary wars, finally settled in Goshen.

CHILDEEN OP SOLOMON AND LUCINDA 67
(PACKARD) PARSONS.

I. Theodore Parsons, b. September 14, 1791; d. Jan-
uary 19, 1865.

II. Jerusha Parsons, b. June 23, 1793; d. February
15, 1820; m. Cyrus Joy.

III. Willard Parsons, b. July 20, 1795; d. May 6, 1876.

IV. Ebenezer Parsons, b. January 24, 1798.

V. Wealthy Parsons, b. February 26, 1800; d. Sep-
tember 18, 1832; m. Frank Naramore.

VI. Lucinda Parsons, b. April 12, 1802; m. Francis
Ljrman.

VII. Lyman Parsons, b. May 1, 1894; d. August 28,
1831.

WiLLABD Pabsons, bom at Goshen, Mass., July 20, 72*
1795, married, June 6, 1820, Tetphosa Naramobe,
bom July 8, 1797; died January 20, 1876; daughter of
Alpheus and Mercy (White) Naramore. Her maternal
grandfather was Captain William White of the Eevolu-
tion.

116

OHILDEEN OP WILLARD AND TEYPHOSA
(NA RAMOSE) PARSONS.

77 I. Sophia N. Parsons, b. April 15, 1821; m. Amos
Stone of Goshen.

78 II. Alpheus N. Parsons, b. July 2, 1823; d. April 29,
1851.

79 III. Benjamin F. Parsons; b. November 7, 1827; liv-
ing 1897.

80 IV. Julia Parsons, b. December 8, 1831; d. March 29,
1863; m. M. N. Hubbard.

81 V. Helen Parsons, b. May 19, 1834; m. William Wells.

82 VI. Lyman Parsons, b. March 1, 1839; m. Octavia
French; both living 1897; no children.

83 VII. Edward Parsons; b. September 5, 1842; d.
September 17, 1845.

Benjamin Fbanklin Parsons, bom at Goshen,
Mass., November 7, 1827, married at Colchester, Conn.,
December 20, 1859, Leonora Frances Bartlett, born j
October 9, 1839, at Natchez, Miss. Benjamin F. Parsons
graduated from Williams College in 1857, aad was im-
mediately appointed Principal of Bacon Academy, at
Colchester, Conn. Here, two years later, he was married
to Leonora Frances Bartlett. Together they became
principals and proprietors of South Berkshire Institute,
at New Marlboro, Mass. In 1870 they moved to Hop-
kinton, Mass., and in 1877 they took up their residence
in Hawkinsville, Ga., where they still reside.

Leonora Frances Bartlett was daughter of John Chan-
dler Bartlett and Lucy Ann Lathrop of Lebanon, Conn.
She descends from eleven passengers of the Mayflower,
two colonial governors, five governor's assistants, and
several ofiicers and soldiers of the colonial wars. This
line has been carried back through several branches to
the original pioneers, and, as with this Parsons line, no
ancestor has been found who landed later than 1640,
and none who were not English. I

117

CHILDREN OF BENJAMN F. AND LEONORA

(BARTLETT) PARSONS.

I. Charles Lathrop Parsons, b. March 23, 1867, at
New Marlboro, Mass.

II. William Naramore Parsons, b. October 11, 1869,
at New Marlboro; m., October 8, 1895, Miss Carrie
Waterman, at Hawkinsville, Ga.

Charles Lathbop Parsons, born at New Marlboro,
Mass., March 23, 1867, married, December 29, 1887,
Alice Douglas Robertson, born at Bluff ton, S. C,
June 20, 1870, daughter of James Douglas Robertson
and Anna (Guerard) Robertson.

Charles L. Parsons graduated from Cornell University
in 1888. Immediately after graduation he accepted the
position of Assistant Chemist to the New Hampshire
Experiment Station. In 1890 he was appointed Pro-
fessor of General and Anal3rtical Chemistry in the New
Hampshire State College, at that time a department of
Dartmouth College. In 1893 the New Hampshire Col-
lege was, by act of the legislature, removed to Durham,
N. H., where he now (1897) resides.

Alice Douglas Robertson was bom at Bluffton, S. C.
Her father, James D. Robertson, was bom in Scotland,
and is of the family of the Robertsons of Strowan. His
grandfather. Lieutenant James Robertson, died from
wounds received at Waterloo, and his great grandfather,
Lieutenant-General James Robertson, was a prominent
English officer of the Revolution and was Royal Gov-
ernor of New York in 1779. Her mother, n6e Anna
Richardson Guerard, is descended from the two Land-
graves Thomas Smith, Sir John Barnwell, the De
Veaux's, Screvens, Bedons, Guerards, and other well-
known South Carolina families.

118

CHILDEEN OF CHAELES L. AND ALICE (BOB- 84

EETSON) PAESONS.

86 I. Leonora Elizabeth Parsons, b. Hanover, N. H., Oc-
tober 3, 1888.

87 II. Charles Lathrop Parsons, Jr., b. Hanover, N. H.,
November 9, 1889.

88 III. Anna Guerard Parsons, b. Hanover, N. H., Janu-
ary 11, 1891.

89 IV. Alice Inez Parsons, b. Durham, N. H., March 26,
1895.

90 V. Priscilla Bartlett Parsons, b. Durham, N. H., Sep-
tember 18, 1897.

NOTE TO PAGE 105.

* " I think there is little doubt that this is an erroneous conclusion, for, in
the first place, the original record of this Parsons is written JO: which has
been fully decided to be an abbreviation, at that time, for John, and not for
Joseph, and also because he sailed for Virginia. In the early '20's the term
Virginia was often used to mean America, but by 1635 Massachusetts Bay
Colony and Virginia had become clearly differentiated. I do not believe that
we have any record of Joseph Parsons whatever previous to the Indian deed,
and I believe that when it is found it will Include Richard Parsons and the
whole family. Personally, 1 have little doubt that his father was Richard,
and Thomas and Samuel his brothers." (Professor Charles L. Parsons.)

CHARLES L. PARSONS

119

DANIEL PAESONS

was born August 18, 1685, and died January 27, 1774. 45
June 2, 1709, he married, at Longmeadow, Abigail
CooLEY, born February 22, 1690, died June 8, 1763.
She was the daughter of Lieutenant Joseph Cooley (son
of Ensign Benjamin Cooley*) and Mary Griswold
(daughter of George Griswold, son of "Mr." Edward,
son of George, son of Francis Griswold of Lyme Eegis,
England).

" Daniel Parsons, b. 1685, who located at Springfield
as an innkeeper, probably ranked in public estimation
among the foremost of that influential family. At that
time only the choicest characters in the community, gen-
tlemen in the technical sense the word then had, only
such received license to be innholders. As thus licensed
may be cited such names as Cornet Joseph Parsons,
Captain Henry Dwight, the distinguished Colonel Part-
ridge. Daniel Parsons, therefore, stood as to high moral
worth probably second to none of his six brothers.'^
(" Antiquities of Northampton "; Clarke.)

Daniel Parsons appears on the list of tax-payers hold-
ing property in the Chicopee part of the town in 1738.
He was not a church member. Such a change had come
over the spirit of Springfield that at this time the
Pynchons and Glovers were not represented on the lists
of church members on the male side, and even the wife
of the minister, Eunice Breck, daughter of the previous
minister, and her mother were not members.

* " The family of Cooley is of English origin. The name is borne by many
very respectable families, and by families also of illustrious rank. Arthur
Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was the son of Garret, created Viscount
Wellesley, son of Richard Cooley, as the heir to his first cousin. Garret
Wellesley, who left him all his large estates, his arms and name. This
Richard Cooley was grandson or great grandson of Sir Richard Cooley,
sometimes spelled Cowley, and Colly, of Ruthland County, the home, from
time immemorial, of the Colleys." (" Genealogy of the Early Settlers of
Trenton and Ewing, N. J.," by Rev. Eli P. Cooley, D.D., and Prof. Wm. S.
Cooley.)

Ensign Benjamin Cooley was bom 1620, was a resident of Springfield,
Mass., of which he was selectman In 1646. He was a man of wealth, and
left large landed estates in Springfield and Longmeadow, besides other
property. He died, 1684, six days before his wife, Sarah.

120

CHILDEEN OF DANIEL PAESONS AND 45

ABIGAIL COOLEY.

91 I. Daniel Parsons was bom, it is recorded, in 1709.
This son must have died soon, for the church record
shows a "second son of Daniel Parsons,'^ bom 1710,
also named Daniel.

92 II. Daniel Parsons, Jr., was bom in 1710 and died in
1760. He went to Wilbraham in 1737. May 29, 1741,
Daniel Parsons (Jr.) " moderates ^* the meeting called to
arrange for the place of ordination of the Worthy Mr.
Mirick as minister of the new parish in Wilbraham.
November 4, 1745, Daniel Parsons and Nathaniel Bliss
are directed to wait upon a committee to determine the
place of building the meeting-house, and to show them
the land. November 16th they are voted each one pound
five shillings " for Eideing with the committee two days
and a half." (The smallest service rendered by any in-
habitant of the precinct is paid for by the community.)

The meetings on Sunday having been held in Daniel
Parsons' house, he was paid for its use for the year end-
ing March 22, 1746, " two pounds, old tenor." *

• " After many delays, about Christmas, 1748, the meeting-house was used
for public worship. As our fathers went up to Wigwam Hill to worship
God, the land lay spread out before them. From the meeting-house door
the whole valley of the Great River, from the mountains on the north, Holy-
oke and Tom, to below Hartford on the south, was visible. The open
fields of the first settlers were under their feet; and on to the west, over
forests and meadows, could be seen the blue line of vapor signalizing the
homes of the old settlers in Springfield Street, or the white cloud of fog,
lying low along the tree-tops. Indicating the course of the river from its
gateway between the mountains to the settlement at Middletown. And be-
yond, more than twenty miles away, rose the blue ridges of the Green Moun-
tains, tipped with gold in the morning, veiled in purple in the evening;
and when the frost touched the forests in the autumn, how the red maple
fiamed among the trees, and the green of the pines, and the yellow of the
walnuts, caused the whole vast landscape to appear like a gorgeous carpet
woven in the loom of the gods.

** Winding their way, when the Sabbath morning comes, through field
and bridle-path and cart-road, they turn to the right up the hill, climbing
the mountain through the woods— a timid deer now and then pausing a
moment to gaze at the strange sight, and then bounding away among the
trees; a frightened partridge breaking the silence by whirring off through
the bushes; till the procession, on horseback and on foot— for the young

121

Daniel Parsons, Jr., had (1) Daniel, bom October 26,
1733, died January 20, 1734; and (2) Daniel, 3d, born
July 15, 1735, died January 18, 1797. This Daniel
Parsons, 3d, was First Lieutenant of the company of
Captain Daniel Cadwell, in Colonel Timothy Kobinson's
detachment of militia from Massachusetts, which served
at Ticonderoga from December 5, 1776, to April 2, 1777.

1742, Dec. 9. " Granted to Daniel Parsons, jr., IDs lawful!
money for a bear killed by him Las Summer for old Tenor
£2."

1738, March 14. " Voted that a Cart Bridge be built at
twelve Mile Brook, in the Country Bhoad, at the Charge of
the Town, and Dan'l Parsons, Obadiah Cooley, and John
Hitchcock jr.. Chosen a comtee to build the same at the
Cheapest Rate they can."

III. Aaron Parsons, bom June 2, 1712; died August
4, 1795.

men and maidens thought the walk most delightful— reached the road that
came up from the east side of the mountain.

" Continuing on to the place of the sanctuary, they made their horses
fast to the trees about the meeting-house, and after Christian inquiries for
such news of their households and the precinct as their curiosity compelled
and reverence could not restrain, they entered the sanctuary, of which^ if
they could not exclaim with David ' How amiable are thy tabernacles,' they
could cry out with the royal poet, ' The sparrow hath found a house, and
the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thy
altars, O Lord of Hosts, my Ood and my King.'

" After they were as comfortably seated as possible on the benches. In
such order as had been prescribed, the ' Worthy Reverend Noah Mirrick '
with wig or powdered hair and cue, bands and small clothes and silk stock-
ings, and shoe buckles of silver, entered the house, the congregation all
rising as a token of respect. He reads a hymn, then hands the book over
the top of the pulpit— for there was but one hymn-book in the precinct, and
that was the minister's— to Deacon Nathaniel Warriner, who named the
tune, the pitch, read one line of the hymn, and commenced singing it, the
rest following after, as ability and strength permitted, the deacon consid-
erately, and as became the service of God's house, waiting before he gave
out another line, until the most dilatory had finished. When the hymn was
ended, the minister solemnly prayed, the congregation reverently rising.
When the prayer was over, another hymn was sung in the same manner.
Then the sermon was preached, not seldom interspersed with the twittering
of swallows above, or the crying of babies below. At last the benediction is
pronounced, and the minister leaves the pulpit and passes out first, the
congregation all standing, as when he entered. The families now gather
about to eat their frugal dinners from the logs and stumps which are
abundant. The short intermission over, the afternoon service follows, sim-
ilar, in all respects, to the morning, after which they mount their horses
^their wives on the pillions behind, and the baby on the pommel before.

122

94 IV. Noah Parsons, bom 1714; died young.

95 V. Abigail Parsons, bom 1718; mawied Benjamin
Horton, Jr.

06 VI. Miriam Parsons was bom in 1721. She married
Captain James Warriner* of Springfield.

In April, 1775, Captain James Warriner " marched in
defence of Ammerican liberi:y on ye alarai occasioned by
ye Lexington fight." f

Captain James Warriner was town clerk of Wilbraham

the young: men and maidens going on foot, and finding the way all too
short— and so all reach their homes again at the going down of the sun."
(" Wilbraham Centennial.")

• William Warriner, who died in 1676, first appears In Springfield in 1640-
43. He had a son, James, who took the oath of allegiance in 1678, and who
in 1664 had married Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Baldwin of Milford. In
1706 he was sent to Boston with Judge Joseph Parsons, to answer the
" west-siders " in the contest over Springfield church-rates.

t ** General Qage, eonmiander of the British troops in Boston, had de-
termined to get possession of the ammunition and arms of the province,
which he heard were stored at Lexington and Concord. On the night of the
18th of April the troops stole out of Boston, hoping to reach Lexington with-
out being discovered, but the preconcerted signal fiashed from the spire
of the New North Church, and Paul Revere was instantly on his way from
Charlestown to Lexington, rousing the inhabitants along the road, so that
when Major Pitcairn, who led the advance of the troops reached the Com-
mon, he found the ' minute-men ' of Lexington drawn up in arms before
him. He ordered them to disperse. They stood their ground. He ordered
his men to fire. That volley opened the Revolutionary War. Couriers were
dispatched on the fleetest horses to arouse the people everywhere, and carry
the flaming torch of alarm through the country. On the 20th, just as the
sun was passing the meridian, a rider was seen coming down the Bay Road
to Wilbraham at full speed, his horse dripping and smoking with sweat.
He barely checked his horse before Samuel Glover's door, announced the
fight, called upon the minute-men to hasten to the rescue, and was off and
out of sight on his way to Springfield. Blood had been shed! Glover mounts
his horse and rides, as he never rode before, down by Jones's and Bliss's,
calling on them to come on, as he goes. Brewer and Merrick, and James
Warriner, the captain of the minute-men, rush in from the field. The long
roll is beaten by Charles Ferry, so that the mountain answers it from
Oliver Bliss's to Noah Stebbins's. Merrick mounts his horse and files down
the west road by the Scantic; and Burt tells his most vigorous son to cross
the mountains by Rattlesnake Peak as swift as the winds ever swept over
them, and not to stay his speed till all the men of the south valley were
summoned to the march; then to return without delay along the east road,
and over the mountains home. ' Edward,' said Isaac Morris to his son,
' bring the horse.' As soon as he had slung his powder-horn over his shoul-
der, put his bullets into his pocket, and taken down his trusty gun from
its hooks, the faithful steed was at the door. Breathing a prayer for his
heroic wife, standing in speechless submission, he was off at full speed.
Before the mountain ceased to glow with that day's departing sun, thirty-
four men, with the blessing of their wives, and the prayers of the fathers
who were too old to go to battle, were on the ' Great Bay Road,' hastening
to defend, and if necessary, to die for, their rights."

123

1773-78; Noah Warriner 1779-80; and James, again,
1781-85.

97 VII. Gideon Parsons was bom 1723, and died .

98 VIII. Abner Parsons was bom in 1725, and died in

1798. He married Mary Abbot.

"Wensday July 18th. Wim. Hancock and Abner Par-
sons came up today." (Samuel Warner's Journal, Expedi-
tion to Crown Point, 1759.)

99 IX. Eimice Parsons was bom in 1728, and died in
1771. She married Abel Hancock.

Abel Hancock marched from Springfield, April 20,
1775, in the company commanded by Lieutenant Gideon
Burt. On April 24th this company was reorganized for
three and a half months' service. Aaron Parsons, Jr.,
nephew of Eunice Parsons Hancock, was one of the
sergeants of this company.

AAEON PARSONS, 1st,

was born June 2, 1712, at Five-Mile Pond, near Spring- 93
field. He married (1), October 2, 1732, Mercy (daugh-
ter of John and Dorcas) Atkinson, bom 1713, died
July 11, 1750; (2) Febmary 19, 1752, Experience Rob-
inson, d. May 14, 1789, aged 67. Aaron was named
after his father's cousin, Aaron, son of Lieutenant Sam-
uel Parsons, who married the daughter of Aaron Cook,
the devoted friend of the regicides, GofEe and Whalley.

Aaron Parsons went to Wilbraham, where his mother
owned land in both the second and third divisions of land
" on the East side of the Great River in Springfield ^^ as
the locality was designated, in 1737, at the same time with
his brother Daniel Parsons, Jr. Both Aaron and Daniel
Parsons were among the signers of the following paper: —

** We the subscribers, who are settlers on the Lands called
the Outward commons Dwelling Some in the Second and
Some in the Third Division of Said Commons In Springfield
on the East Side of Connecticut River do hereby appoint
and Impower Thomas Mirick 2nd & Abel Bliss Settlers on
the Said Place to Prefer a Petition to the Next General
Court that we with our Lands and theirs together with all
the Lands within Said Divisions being In the whole in

124

leng^ Eight Miles and in weadth four Miles May be Set of a
Separate and Distinct Precinct and that all the Lands Lyingf
in said Divisions may be taxed at Such Bate as the General
Court shall think Proper the better to Enable them to Set-
tle a Minister Build a Meeting House and other Public
Charges so that we may be enabled to Maintain the Gospel
among us. Witness our hands May 7th 1740.**

In January, 1738, the name of Aaron Parsons is found
on the valuation and assessment list intrusted to Con-
stable John Hitchcock for property in the Chicopee part
of Springfield town. He was a member of the Spring-
field church at that time.

Aaron Parsons was a member of Captain Luke Hitch-
cock^s company in the French war, which was in service
from April 3, 1755, to January 3, 1756. They were
in battle near the southern extremity of Lake George,
with Baron Dieskau. In this battle, private Noah Grant,
the great grandfather of General U. S. Grant, was killed.
In the war of the Rebellion, 1861-65, a descendant of
Noah Grant, viz.. General U. S. Grant, commanded the
armies of the United States, while a descendant of Aaron
Parsons, Major^eneral Lewis Baldwin Parsons, was
Chief of Eail and Eiver Transportation for said armies
from 1861 to 1865.* (See No. 161, page 152.)

The inscription on his gravestone is: " In memory of
Mr. Aaron Parsons, who died Aug. 4, 1795, (b 83 years.

* ** About five miles beyond the village of Qlen's Falls, N. T., the road
passes Williams' Rock, a large bowlder which marks the scene of the
* bloody morning scout.' On September 7, 1755, when the French army,
under Dieskau, was marching down from Crown Point against the Anglo-
colonial army under General Johnson, Colonel Ephraim Williams (the
virtual founder of Williams College) was sent out with 1,200 men to engage
the French vanguard; 200 of his men were Mohawk Indians, under com-
mand of their noble white-haired chief Hendrick. The detachment marched
into the very centre of the invading army (which was marching in a great
half-moon curve), and was speedily enveloped and crushed by the enemy.
A terrible massacre ensued (in a ravine still called the ' bloody defile ') and
Williams and Hendrick fell, with most of their men. The bodies of the
slain were thrown into Bloody Pond, a quiet pool in a glen near Williams'
Rock. Dieskau then advanced rapidly to attack the colonial camp at Lake
George. Johnson had fortified his position, and the Indian and Canadian
auxiliaries in the attacking forces were soon put to fiight, by the fire of
the batteries, while the French regulars suffered heavily and were finally
repulsed with a loss of 700 killed and wounded. Dieskau was wounded and
made a prisoner, while Johnson, though wounded, was made a baronet of

100
101
102
103
104

125

THE CHILDREN OF AARON PARSONS AND
(1) MERCY ATKINSON PARSONS.

I. Mercy Parsons was born in 1733, and died in 1750.
She married Abner Sikes.

II. Lncy Parsons was bom in 1735, and died .

She married Joseph Adna Abbott of Tolland.

III. Sergeant Aaron Parsons, jr., was born February
14, 1736, and died February 20, 1799.

IV. Deacon Reuben Parsons was bom in 1739, and
died in 1799. He married Margaret Granger.

V. Zenas Parsons was born in 1740, and died in 1818.
He married Isabel Woodbridge of Stockbridge.*

Qreat Britain, and received the thanks of Parliament." (History of New
England.)

" I want to say to you, comrades, that I am indebted to the private sol-
dier for all the credit that has come to me. He was the man who did the
fighting, and the man who carried the musket is the greatest hero of the
war, in my estimation. I was nothing but an agent. I knew how to take
care of men. I knew what a soldier was worth, and how to put him in a
battle when one occurred; but I was simply the agent to take care of him,
and he did the work. Now, comrades, these are common-sense things, and
I can't say them in fiowery language; but they are true nevertheless, and
they are true not of me alone but of everybody else. It is to the common
soldier that we are indebted for any credit that comes to us." (General
Phil. Sheridan, at a reunion of veterans at Cresson.) " The private soldier
was a man, not a musket." (General W. T. Sherman.)

* The great elm tree on the southeast corner of the present Court-house
Square in Springfield once gave shade to the best known tavern of its day,
that of Zenas Parsons, there being just room between the elm and the hotel
veranda for the '* stage wagon." There were extensive barns and sheds
in the rear. Here auctions were frequently held, and on training day
young men tried their powers of wrestling. Over the sheds was a long
dance hall much used by the young people. Here Zenas Parsons ofTered
lodging, October 21, 1789, to General Washington, and the old building is
honored accordingly. In his diary, Washington mentions that ** Colonel
Worthington, Colonel Williams, Adjutant-General of the State of Massa-
chusetts; General Shepard, Mr. Lyman, and many other gentlemen, sat an
hour or two with me in the evening at Parsons' tavern where I lodged, and
which is a good house."

** We can hardly realize the full place which the tavern occupied in those
days, when the famous Zenas Parsons held sway. The English were natu-
rally a tavern-haunting people. The tap-room was comfortable, informal,
and conducive to the interchange of fact and opinion— three qualifications
that appealed strongly to the English before the advent of the new and
tremendous agency, journalism. Parsons retired with the century in which
he was born; but many an anecdote remains of those days of flip-irons and
toddy. A party once put up with Parsons after learning from him that he
took Continental money, then hopelessly depreciated. The surprise was un-
bounded when a bill of several hundred dollars was presented. They asked

126

" In the winter term of the Court of Common Pleas in
1784, Zenas Parsons, Moses Bliss, William Pynchon,
Luke Chapin, Isaac Morgan, Jonathan Dwight, etc.,
were crowding on each other's heels to secure judgments
against debtors." (Greenes " Springfield.")

Isabel Woodbridge Parsons was the daughter of Judge
Joseph Woodbridge* and Elizabeth Merrick of Spring-
field.

Parsons If he had not told them he accepted Continental money, and he
replied that he did» and ' a lot of it, too ' !

** On Fridays (1783) the Hartford stage-wagon left for Parsons' Inn at
Springfield, and returned Saturdays. A little later Reuben Bikes ran a line
of stages from New York to Boston, through Springfield, three times a week
in summer, the fare being three shillings per mile. The arrival and de-
parture of such ladies and gentlemen as were able to meet the expenses of
the travel, was an event of no small importance. It was not permitted
everyone to own a carriage. They were heavily taxed. Among those thus
taxed in 1791 were. Captain Pynchon, Jonathan Dwight, Colonel Williams,
Alexander Bliss, Zenas Parsons, etc. At the close of the year 1782, there
were so many crimes against property that a society was formed for the
pursuit and conviction of thieves; but this did not prevent a descent upon
Zenas Parsons a year later, when much plate and other valuables were
secured. One of the last events in the history of Parsons' tavern was the
visit of President Monroe to Springfield in 1817. It was a very important
occasion politically and socially for Springfield Valley and for Massachusetts
also. The bitterness in politics occasioned by the embargo had been car-
ried even to the breaking up of families. But Monroe had been so well re-
ceived in New York and elsewhere, that by the time he reached Springfield
bridge, he was greeted by a thoroughly cordial community. Ascending the
west bank of the river, he found sixty Springfield citizens on horseback,
many of them in military uniform, as well as scores in carriages, making a
procession half a mile long. As they approached the village, Captain War-
riner had assembled his company of artillery at the bridge, where also a
crowd had gathered. The church bells were rung and a salute was fired.
A formal address was presented the President when he arrived at the Par-
sons tavern, then kept by Captain Bennett; there was a visit to the armory,
and a review of four hundred and ten school children. President Monroe
was much interested in the little ones, and he said to the committee of en-
tertainment standing beside him on the veranda of Parsons' tavern, ' I am
much pleased and gratified with their appearance, and pray Ood to bless
them, and you to carry your good designs for them into effect* They say
men fraternized after the Monroe visit, who had not spoken to each other in
years."

* Rev. John Woodbridge of Stanton, northeast part of Wiltshire, England,
had son John, born 1613, bred at Oxford, but left there on account of the Act
of Uniformity. He was brought to this country, with his cousin. Rev.
James Noyes, by his uncle, Thomas Parker, in 1634, in the ship " Mary and
John." He married in 1634, Mercy, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley,
and in 1645 was ordained first minister at Andover. He returned in 1647 to
England, and continued there sixteen years, being called to serve on the
parliamentary commission for treating with the king in his prison on the
Isle of Wight. As his Presbyterian views were opposed to those of Crom-
well, he was finally excluded from the pulpit by the Bartholomew Act. He

127

105

106

VI. Captain Charles Parsons was bom in 1742. He
married Lucy Baldwin in 1785.

Captain Charles Parsons enlisted in the Eevolutionary
Army as orderly sergeant. Eighth New York regiment,
Colonel Van Schaick. He was promoted Lieutenant, No-
vember 21, 1776, and Captain in 1778. He commanded
two years at Ticonderoga, and was mustered out in 1782.
He was at Valley Forge, and was wounded at Monmouth.
He was present at Comwallis^ surrender at Yorktown.
After the war he engaged in agricultural and commer-
cial pursuits at Williamstown, Mass.*

VII. Elijah Parsons was bom in 1744, and died in
1796. He married (1) Eunice Cadwell; (2) Eunice Jen-
nings.

returned to Boston In 1663, and died in 1677. His son. Rev. John Woodbridge
of Killingworth, born at Andover, married in 1671, Abigail, daughter of
Governor William Leete. His son. Rev. John Woodbridge, born at Killing-
worth in 1678, graduated at Harvard College in 1694, was minister at West
Springfield. His son. Rev. John Woodbridge, born 1702, Tale College 1726,
was minister at Windsor, and afterwards at South Hadley. He was said to
be the ninth Rev. John Woodbridge in uninterrupted succession from Rev.
John Woodbridge, a friend of WicklifTe. The family in America is dis-
tinguished by a long line of clergymen reaching down to the present time.

Thomas Dudley, long time Governor of Massachusetts, and afterward
Major-General (1630-53), had his estates and mansion at Roxbury, and here
Joseph Dudley, Governor 1702-15, was born.

* The winter of 1777-78 was the darkest season of the Revolution. Wash-
ington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. Congress had no money.
Many of the soldiers were without shoes, and in their marches over frozen
ground they left blood in their tracks. Some of the poor fellows sat up by
the fires at night, for want of blankets to keep them warm. The first result
of the alliance with France was the recovery of Philadelphia. Sir Henry
Clinton was afraid that the French might blockade the Delaware, and thus
shut him up in Philadelphia. He therefore retreated across New Jersey to
New York, pushed by Washington's army. During this retreat the battle
of Monmouth was fought. The Americans gained a partial victory, the Eng-
lish retreating under cover of the night. With the coming in of the year 1781,
American prospects began to brighten. In the severe battle of Guilford
Court-house, Comwallis, who was the ablest of all the British commanders
in America, drove the Americans from the field at the close of the day, but
his army was so badly shattered that he was forced to begin a prompt re-
treat to the seacoast, leaving his wounded in the hands of the pursuing Amer-
icans. Reaching Virginia, Comwallis pushed the work of fighting and de-
struction with his usual vigor. Lafayette, who was in command of the
Americans, showed much ability in avoiding a battle. Washington now
marched his forces to the southward, in company with a French army under
Rochambeau. The French fieet blockaded the troops of Comwallis at Tork-
town, and the American and French armies laid siege to the place. On the
18th of October. 1781, the British army under Comwallis surrendered, pris-
oners of war. The surrender took away from England the last hope of sub-
duing America.

128

Elijah Parsons was one of the signers of the pledge of |
non-consumption of British goods, in 1774.* (" History
of Wilbraham/' p. 109.)

In the " Muster Eoll of the Minit Company that came
from Wilbraham under the command of Capt. Paul
Langdon/^ it is recorded that, " EUjah Parsons of Wilbra-
ham, private, marched April 20, 1775, discharged May 2,
same year.^^

The whole State was startled in September, 1777, by
what was called the Bennington Alarm, and a company of
fifty-two men under Captain James Shaw, left Wilbra-
ham September 24th, for the seat of danger. They were
present on the opposite side of the river at the surrender
of Burgoyne at Saratoge.f

Elijah Parsons was a member of Captain Shawns com-
pany, which was " detached for the Eegt. whereof Col.
Charles Pjmchon Esq. is colonel, and ordered to join
Gen. Gates army for thirty days unless sooner dis-
charged.^^ In the exciting time of Shays^ Eebellion, con-
vention after convention assembled to devise measures of
relief; and in November, 1786, Elijah Parsons was
chosen to represent the town of Wilbraham at a conven-
tion to be held at Hadley the next day.

* " There being no other alternative between the horrors of slavery or the
carnage and desolation of a civil war but a suspension of all commercial in-
tercourse with the island of Great Britain, we do solemnly covenant and en-
gage with each other (1) that from henceforth we will suspend all commercial
intercourse with said island of Great Britain . . . and (2) that we will
not buy, purchase or consume or suffer any person by for or under us to
purchase or consume in any manner whatever any goods, wares, or merchan-
dize which shall arrive in America from Great Britain, . . . and that we
will break ofC all trade commerce and dealings whatever with all persons
who, preferring their own private intrist, to the salvation of their now perish-
ing country, shall still continue to import goods from Great Britain or shall
purchase from those who do import and (3) we agree to purchase no article
of merchandize of any who do not sign this pledge."

t (Journal of a private In the company. Dr. Merrick) : " A day never to be
forgotten by the American States. About 11 o'clock A.M., General Burgoine
with a number of other officers rode out, escorted by sundry officers of the
Continental army and a little south of the church was met by General Gates,
and after a polite compliment proceeded to head>quarters; about two the
army began to march out. I tarried till after four when I returned. They
not all then marched out, but I believe nearly, the number can by no xiieans
ascertain but should be inclined to think between five and six thousand, but
I am by no means a competent Judge, tho I had a good view of them. The
Lord be praised for this wonderful token of divine favor, for which we can-
not be sufficiently thankful."

129

107 VIII. Miriam Parsons was bom in 1746. She mar-
ried Enoch Chapin, Captain of a West Springfield com-
pany, which sprang to arms the day after the battle of
Lexington.

108 IX. Lieutenant Eli Parsons was born in 1748. He
married Pansy Graves.

In the " Muster Eoll of Captain Thomas Seward^s com-
pany of artillery in the service of the United States of
America, commanded by Col. John Crane,^^ are the fol-
lowing records:

"Eli Parsons, 1st Lieut., wounded Oct. 4, 1777; on
furlough November and December, 1777.^^

Lieutenant Eli Parsons was a promoter of Shays^ Ee-
bellion and issued over his own name a stirring proclama-
tion urging the people to resist being wrongly reduced
to beggary, and to take up arms to secure for themselves
and their children the fruits of the war for indepen-
dence which they had successfully waged against Great
Britain.*

* In a recent novel, Shays's Rebellion is treated as belonging in the category
of outbreaks of socialistic envy and discontent. The history of the time in
which it occurred, puts the afCair in a difCerent light. It is as follows:

" It became more and more difficult to raise money, and the town, in their
perplexity and distress, went so far. May 12, 1783, after the treaty of peace
had been signed, as to vote to ' instruct their representative not to grant
Congress the impost requested by them for the express purpose of raising a
revenue independent of the States, nor to supply Congress any way until the
half-pay to the officers of the army in the conmiunication thereof be settled
and entirely given up.' The war closed, but not the financial difficulties.
Paper money sank in value rapidly-— sank to worthlessness very soon. It
would not pay debts, nor buy bread! Creditors began to press their helpless
debtors. Silver, the only legal tender, could not be had. The unprincipled
took advantage of the times and forced the payment of debts, securing liens
on real estate worth inmiensely more than the real indebtedness. The courts
were thronged. It is said that 1,200 suits were presented at one term of the
court in Northampton. There was no peace, though peace was proclaimed.
Men who had poured out their blood, either from their own veins or from
those of their sons, were now to be deprived of the farms they had cleared,
the houses they had built. The blessings of liberty and prosperity, for which
they had fought, seemed to be escaping their grasp. Their own friends
seemed to have become foes. The people were enraged, and their rage was
fanned into a consuming flame, especially by one Samuel Ely, a discarded
minister who had preached for a time in Somers. As early as 1781 there was
an article inserted in the warrant for April meeting to see if the town
' would send a member or members to the county convention to be held at
Hatfield as requested,' but no action was taken. February 22, 1782, ' Deacon
John Hitchcock, Dr. John Stems, and Abner Chapin were chosen delegates
to set in a county convention, to be holden at Hatfield on the first Tuesday in

130

109 X. Silence Parsons was bom July 11, 1750, and died
August 2d of the same year. Her mother, Mercy At-
kinson Parsons, died the day Silence was bom.

April next.' The same month, a mob led by Ely disturbed the holding of
a court at Northampton. He was arrested and imprisoned at Springfield, but
was released by a mob. Suits became more and more vexatious, and money
more and more worthless. In October, 1783, another delegate was chosen —
Dr. John Sterns—' to set in a county convention to be holden at Hatfield, at
the dwelling-house of Colonel Seth Murray.' The tumult increased in dif-
ferent parts of the State, and arms were not seldom resorted to by the mob.
April 25, 1786, Captain Phineas Stebbins and Mr. David Burt were chosen
delegates to sit in a county convention at Hatfield; and in August of the same
year, ' Lieut. Noah Stebbins is chosen to represent the town ' in another
convention to be held at the same place; and in the ensuing November, Elijah
Parsons is chosen to represent the town in a convention to be held in Hadley
the next day. At the February session (1784) of the court, one Daniel Shays,
of Pelham, ' Gentleman,' was defendant in a suit brought by John Johnson,
* yoeman,' for the enforcement of a promissory note for £12. Shays did not
appear, and Judgment and costs were entered against him. Shays was a
hired man at Brookfleld at the opening of the Revolution. He entered the
army as sergeant, being under Washington near New York. He received
one of the swords which Liafayette distributed to American officers. He event-
ually became Captain in the Fifth Massachusetts regiment, commanded by
Rufus Putnam, and his record at Bunker Hill, Stony Point, and Saratoga
was creditable. Being a Judgment debtor, he did not allow the sales of prop-
erty under Judgments in Pelham to pass without protest. Taking specimen
cases, and using round numbers, a man owing £24, had to pay £7 for the
privilege of having the sherifC sell enough of his goods to raise £24. The
sale of the bedding of a sick woman gave Shays a good text for tavern
harangues at Pelham, East Amherst, and West Springfield, where Luke Day
—legislator at large, and Captain in the Seventh Massachusetts regiment-
talked by the hour. The legislature was flooded with petitions from suffering
towns. Meanwhile, Shays and Day took a bold step at Springfield, September
26th, by interfering with the session of the Supreme General Court. The
court adjourned, and also abandoned the October term at Great Barrington.
Three weeks later. Shays proceeded to Rutland, and superintended the in-
terruption of the courts at Worcester and elsewhere in December. He turned
up in Springfield on the 22d of that month, and found the judges of the Court
of Common Pleas an easy prey to the clubs, guns, drums, and threats of his
men. In January, 1787, Shays essayed the difficult feat of capturing the fed-
eral arsenal at Springfield. He made a dash from Rutland with 1,000 men,
indifferently armed, and on the 24th spent the night at Wilbraham, quarter-
ing his men on the inhabitants. Ely Parsons, with 400 insurgents from Berk-
shire, was at Chicopee, while Luke Day rested under arms at West Springfield
with 400 more, whom he kept in good temper by occasional orations on the
oppressions of government. Shays sent a messenger, with a letter to Day to
be ready for the fight the next day; but the messenger, on his way back,
pinched with cold, went into a tavern at Springfield to warm himself, and
some young men present, suspecting all was not right, so plied him with
friendly draughts that they soon put him into a drunken sleep and got from
him Day's letter to Shays, saying that he could not fight before the 26th. Of
this, therefore. Shays knew nothing. On the morning of the 25th, he moved
toward Springfield ' on the Bay Road.' Asaph King, deputy sheriff, mounted
a splendid young horse that stood saddled in his bam and started him across
the fields to the ' Stony Hill Road.' The snow, knee-deep to his horse, was
covered with a crust, and he was obliged in some instances, not only to make

131

AAEON PAESONS AND (2) EXPEEIENCE 93
EOBINSON PAESONS.

110 XI. Phoebe Parsons was the daughter of Aaron Par-
sons and his second wife Experience Eobinson.

III. SEEGEANT AAEON PAESONS, JE., 102

was bom February 14, 1736, at Wilbraham,* Mass.,
and died February 20, 1799. He married, October 2,

a path for bis horse, but to pull down or leap fences. When be came out upon
the road, the legs of bis horse were streaming with blood. He was far ahead
of Shays, and spurring on, reached the arsenal in forty-five minutes from
the time be left Wilbraham. Shepard now learned all the particulars of the
number and proximity of the force of Shays, which were important to him,
and prepared to meet them. The marching was bad, and Shays did not make
his appearance on the road till about four o'clock in the afternoon. After
some parleying and boasting on the part of Shays, his column moved on
toward the loaded cannon of Shepard, who had threatened to fire if he did not
halt. The insurgents kept on, not believing that Shepard would dare to fire.
It was no time for dallying; yet Shepard, to show all possible forbearance,
fired first to the right, then to the left, then over the heads of the column.
But still they came on, the harmless roar of the cannon frightening the vil-
lage more than the insurgents. They are within fifty rods of the battery,
and pressing on. It was now time to fire In earnest. The cannon are trained
on the centre of the column; the match is whisked in the air; the column
comes on; the priming is touched; the smoke belches forth, and the shot fly.
Soon the smoke lifts. The column is broken and flying, crying, ' murder.'
Three men lie dead, and four are mortally wounded. Shays could not rally
his men, and they fled with the utmost precipitation till the scattered column
reached Ludlow, where they spent the night. The Insurrection was soon
after this wholly put down. The insurgents dispersed to their homes, and
an amnesty almost general was declared. The sullen feeling in this part of
the State survived for a time. Indeed it was at one time considered doubtful
whether Massachusetts would cast her lot with the constitution framed by the
convention that met in the following May at Philadelphia, presided over by
George Washington. The sentiment in Hampshire County was about evenly
divided. The vote in the convention was 187 yeas to 168 nays. By special
legislation the pecuniary affairs of the State were adjusted so as to relieve
to a great extent the sufferings of the people, and soon prosperity filled their
purses and gamers. The popularity of Shays was very great, however,
among some people, and as late as forty years after the Rebellion, ' Hurrah
for Shays! ' was as common an exclamation in the mouths of many persons,
as ' Hurrah for Jackson ! ' was twenty years later. The great struggle for
independence was over; the rebellion consequent on a state of universal
bankruptcy was put down, and its causes remedied; the constitution of the
State was adopted; the ordinary channels of business began to open to the
enterprising; and prosperity, peace, and happiness succeeded the poverty*
tumult, and anxiety of war.*' (Rev. Dr. Rufus P. Stebbins, Historical Ad-
dress; and M. A. Green, " History of Springfield.")

♦ " We have never regretted that we were bom in Wilbraham. There are
various ways In which mental powers are unfolded, directed, educated, and
the man becomes fitted for a sphere of luccessful action in life. -The work

132

1760, Eunice, daughter of Benjamin Warriner. She
was bom April 3, 1739.

Aaron Parsons, jr., was a soldier of the Eevolution.*

Ten days later this company was reorganized under

Gideon Burt as Captain. Aaron Parsons, jr., became

sergeant, and served eight months, being in service at the

siege of Boston. (Green: " Official History of Spring-

field/0

A member of this company wrote the following letter
from the seat of war:

Honoiid Father, ater my regards to you i take this oper-
tunity to let you no that i am well as i hope that these lines

of education is not done exclusively in the school, the college, or the seminary
of learning. There are other influences that perform for us this work. The
mountain range, the peak, the crag, the valley, the stream, the spreading
landscape and sky, the fireside, and the mother's smile all do for us this
work of education. It is with unutterable emotion, therefore, that we return
to the spot of earth on which our eyes were first opened, and look from the
eminence where, eighty years since, Mr. President, you were first pressed to
a mother's bosom, upon the beautiful panorama among the hills, that from
the home of your childhood is spread out before us. Those mountain slopes,
those valleys, those woodlands and streams, can never be separated either
from the thoughts or feelings of those whose cradles were rocked in that
amphitheatre among the hills. Nay, those streams to-day, as they roll spar-
kling in the sunshine, the clouds themselves, as they hang over the landscape,
are to us all voice, and they call up memories that refuse to be uttered save
with quivering lip and moistened eye.

*' ' Time but the impression stronger makes.
As streams their channels deeper wear.' "

(Rev. Dr. Russell, Wilbraham Centennial.)

• The Boston Alarm of September, 1774, had set over forty thousand soldiers
all through New England on the march for the day as promptly as might have
been the case in our days of telegraph. But even more marvellous was the
speed with which the news of the battle of Lexington the next year got to the
Connecticut River. The British soldiers left Boston before daybreak on the
19th of April, 1775, and on the 20th, Captain Elihu Kent, within an hour's no-
tice, was at the head of a Suffolk company of fifty-nine men and a provision
wagon, rushing for Springfield, where they took supper, and pressed on at
once.

Each Springfield soldier was given one-half pound of powder. There were
also given to the soldiers assembled here one hundred and eighty fiints.

The Springfield taverns and streets ^ere in a perfect uproar, and during
the 20th and 21st soldiers were constantly forwarded. The British troops had
left Boston to the tune of Yankee Doodle. In twenty-four hours it was the
other army that was playing that tune. Springfield had for months been
busy collecting arms and drilling men.

April 20th, Aaron Parsons, Jr., with Benjamin, Lemuel, and Joseph Par-
sons, left Springfield in a company commanded by hie cousin. Lieutenant
Gideon Burt, which contained Alexander, Samuel, Calvin, Noah, Zadock, and
Moses Bliss, besides representatives of the Pynchon, Cooley, Merrick, and
other well>>known families.

Ill

112
113
114

115

133

will find you and al my brothers and sisters i have some

news to rite in the first place there was a battel between

Charlstown and Cambridge and the Kings troops drove our

men out of their intrenchment becaus they had no powder

and they have burnt Charlstown and have intrenched on

Buncors hill and our men have intrenched on winter hill

wheir the regulers retreeted to when the first battle was at

Concort which was June 16th they fired the same day at Kox-

bury and threw bums and carkeses in order to set the street

on fire but by the goodness of god they did not for our men

as soon as they had set it on fire would go out and put it out

and they fired no more until last saterday when they fired

again and tried to set it on fire but they would go and put

it out one of our men took one of the carkeses and brot it up

to the general before it went out and they set 2 or 3 houses

on fire but they were as ferce as a bloodhown to put them

out then the Rodeilanders went down on the neck with 2 or

3 f eild peses and fired at them and made their sentrys run to

the brestwork and then they fired upon our sentry and

killed two of them we are building a fort in Eoxbury and

diging a trench acrost the neck no more at present so i

remaine your obdint son

Jeduthan Sanderson.
Roxbury June 29th, 1775.

THE CHILDEEN OF SEEGEANT AAEON

PAESONS, JE., AND EUNICE

WAEEINEE PAESONS.

I. Sergeant and Elder Aaron Parsons, 3d, was born at
Wilbraham, Mass.^ January 26, 1761, and died at Canaan,
New York, February 11, 1815. He married Eachel
Preston, September 14, 1785.

II. Moses Parsons was born November 1, 1762.

III. Adna Parsons was bom October 10, 1764.

IV. Eufiis Parsons was bom March 17, 1767, and died
October, 1835. He married Annie Parker. Eufus Par-
sons died from the result of an accident which occurred
when he was going to pay a visit to his son Adna. His
grandson wrote, "I well remember my grandfather,
Eufus, as being a very fine looking man.^^

V. Eunice Parsons was bom November 17, 1769, and
died April 8, 1829. She married Cyrus Paulk, of
Springfield, August 30, 1792.

102

116
117
118

110
120
121
122

123

134

VI. Horace Parsons was bom 1776. He married I
Sarah Paulk.

VII. Hosea Parsons was bom 1778. He married
Sally Upham.

VIII. Lucy Parsons was bom September 10, 1780, and
died in 1854. She married Zardus Olds.

IX. Samuel Parsons was bom September 19, 1783.

X. Patience Parsons was bom March 2, 1785.

XI. Eli Parsons was bom October 23, 1786.

XII. Shubael Parsons was bom July 8, 1788. His
father died in 1799, and in 1802 F. Holton was appointed
guardian for " Shubael Parsons, minor.^^

XIII. Sylvester Parsons was bom October 29, 1791.

Sylvester is a Woodbridge name, and first appeared in the
Parsons family after the marriage of Zenas Parsons to Isar
bel Woodbridge. Within a few years after the appearance
of the name Sylvester in the Joseph-Daniel-Aaron line of
Parsons, it is found in the Joseph-Thomas line. Sylves-
ter, son of Thomas Parsons, the proprietor of Parson-
field, Me., led a seafaring life for fourteen years, and then
settled in Wilson, N. Y. Shortly after, Aaron Parsons,
nephew of the first Sylvester among the Parsons (Joseph-
Daniel-Aaron) removed to Wilson, N. Y., where at least
one of his children (John Jehiel) was bom.

SERGEANT AND DEACON AARON PARSONS, 3d,

was bom at Wilbraham, Mass., January 26, 1761, and
died at Canaan, Columbia County, N. Y., February 11,
1815. He married, September 14, 1785, Rachel Preston,
b. January 23, 1765, d. March 1, 1851, daughter of
Asa Preston of Harwinton, Conn.

Asa Preston served in the Kevolution in a battalion de-
tached from the Sixth Brigade, Connecticut Militia, for
defence of sea-coast of same, to March 1, 1780. He was son
•of John Preston, Jr., of Windham, Conn., m. Eleanor (dau.
■of John and Deliverance Town) Stiles of Boxford, Mass.;
■son of John Preston of Andover, Mass., and Mary Haynes

111

135

of Haverhill, ;^fass.; son of Samuel Preston of Ipswich,
Mass., son of Boger Preston, b. London, England, 1614,
emigrated to Ipswich 1635.

Emily Parsons Holmes wrote in 1888, *'My grand-
father Parsons was tall and had dark hair. He was a
miller by occupation, and a deacon in the Presbyterian
church. I have seen many times the big bottle in which
he used to keep the communion wine. He served in the
Eevolutionary army when but a boy. He was one of the
outer guard when Andre was hanged. He owned a mill
on Whiting's pond in Canaan, and is buried there.''

At 6arrisons-on-Hudson, young Aaron Parsons was
General Eufus Putnam's orderly. This was the founda-
tion of a life-long friendship between the two.

At the close of the War of Independence, General Putnam
went to Ohio with Major-General Samuel Holden Parsons,
the "intimate friend of Washington."

The name of Aaron Parsons, 3d, is on record in the
casualty book in file in the Bureau of Pensions at Wash-
ington, as enlisting for six months July 3, 1780, in the
Sixth Massachusetts Continental Eegiment commanded
by Colonel Nixon, and discharged December 4, 1780.

An enlisted soldier, after joining a regiment, was de-
tached on account of his qualifications, to join a regiment
of the Artillery Artificers^ organizations.

Thus, Aaron Parsons, 3d, became an orderly sergeant
in Lieutenant Daniel Fry^s command of Army Artificers.
His orderly book, in possession of Albert Eoss Parsons,
ends abruptly on the day of the battle of Ehode Island,
when he received a wound in the head, for which he was
honorably discharged from further service. The wound
never entirely healed, and it occasioned his death in
1815.

In the papers in the office of the City Clerk at Spring-
field it is recorded that in 1780 Aaron Parsons, 3d, was
paid $1,000, and again $200.

186

(From a communication by Aaron Parsons 3d, to the edi-
tors of the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, conveying^
the " joyful intelligence of the outpouring of God's Spirit
into the hearts of careless and secure sinners *' at Canaan,
N. Y., in the winter of 1802-3.)

(Conclusion.) ..." Let us break off from every
sinful course and by a faithful obedience to the commands
of Qod lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Let us
v^ork out our owrn salvation with fear and trembling, at all
times feeling our dependence on the sovereign grace and
mercy of Gk>d for Divine assistance. Let us be much in
prayer at the throne of grace for the outpouring of God's
Spirit upon those of the human race who remain careless
and secure, that they may be awakened to a consideration
of the sinfulness of their ways; that they may realize their
ingratitude while they neglect to g^ve God their hearts, and
refuse to comply with his requirements; and that they may
be brought to humble themselves before God, and take their
proper place at the footstool of sovereign grace and mercy.
Let us earnestly cry to God for his blessing to rest on all
who profess to be the friends of Christ, that they may walk
worthy of their high vocation, that they may forsake every
appearance of evil, that they may live as lights in the world,
and at all times as seeing Him who is invisible, trusting in
the mercy of God, and waiting with patience for the coming
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the clouds of
heaven taking vengeance on all that know not God and love
not his appearing, when his saints will be rewarded with
everlasting life, and be bidden a divine welcome into the
immediate presence of God and His Son Jesus Christ, to
enjoy eternal felicity and happiness where they will be
filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. But the
wicked, and the finally impenitent will be bidden: * Depart
ye workers of iniquity into everlasting punishment pre-
pared for the devil and his angels.'

" Let all awake put of sleep and fly to Christ, the only
ark of safety. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call
upon him while he is near.

** * Seize the kind promise while it waits.
And mount to Zion's heavenly gates.'

" Canaan, N. Y., October 15, 1803.

"Aaron Parsons."

137

THE CHILDEEN OF DEACON AND SERGEANT m
AAEON PAESONS, 3d, AND EACHEL
PEESTON PAESONS.

124 I. Harriet Parsons was bom December 16, 1786, and
died November 24, 1870, at Pekin, Niagara County, N.Y.
Unmarried. She was named after Harriet Williams Par-
sons, wife of the Eev. David Parsons of Amherst. Har-
riet Parsons had a fine mind and proud spirit. Among
the noted people of her time whom she numbered among
her personal friends, were Fenimore Cooper, President
Mariin Van Buren, General and United States Secretary
of War Porter of Niagara Falls, etc. She was educated at
Kinderhook on the Hudson, one of the great schools of
the day. As time passed and her friends, associates, and
kindred, one by one, entered the silent land, she held her-
self more and more aloof from people in general; she
would never suffer any one to enter the room once occu-
pied by a person deceased, or to examine the effects, let-
ters, keepsakes, etc., left by such an one; and in various
ways developed marked idiosyncracies of mind and con-
duct.

125 II. Captain Jehiel Parsons was born October 6, 1788,
and died unmarried June 8, 1825, at Waterloo, N. Y.
He was captain of an artillery company and master of the
local masonic lodge. On the morning of the visit of
General La Fayette to Waterloo, a cannon burst as Cap-
tain Parsons was passing, and he was instantly killed
(see p. 145, The Death of Captain Jehiel Parsons).

" General La Fayette was escorted from Geneva by a
troop of cavalry and was received at the hotel amidst
patriotic airs. Among the enthusiastic throng were sev-
eral old revolutionary soldiers, tottering under the weight
of infirm age, who had fought and bled in the same glori-
ous conflict. Two or three of these remaining relics of
the struggle for national independence had the high grati-
fication of shaking the hand of the venerable Patriot. A
large concourse of respectable citizens assembled at Water-
loo to behold the noble, self-sacrificing companion of
Washington."

138

126 ( III. Calvin Parsons was born October 1, 1790, and
died January 13, 1792.

187 IV. Sarah Parsons was bom March 29, 1793, and died
at Pekin, N. Y., May 4, 18G8. She married David Beebe
of Sullivan County, N. Y. They went to Niagara
County, about the time her mother removed from
Canaan to Niagara County.

128 V. Aaron Parsons was born February 3, 1795, and died
April 25, 1795.

129 VI. Eachel Parsons was bom April 6, 1796, and died
April 19th, of the same year.

180 VII. Elder, Sergeant, and Justice Aaron Parsons,
4th, was born June 9, 1797, at Canaan, N. Y., and died
August 27, 1866, at Niagara Falls, N. Y. He married,
January 20, 1820, Emily Stow of Stockbridge, Mass.

131 VIII. John Parsons was born May 20, 1799, and died
unmarried at Aubum, N. Y., May 1, 1825.

132 IX. Eliza Parsons was bom December 3, 1801, and
died unmarried at Norfolk, Va., July 14, 1828.

133 X. Chariotte Parsons was born February 3, 1806, and
died November 3, 1883, at Hart, Michigan. She married
John Dayharsh, a descendant of a Hessian family who
settled in the Mohawk Valley. Her son, John Parsons
Dayharsh, came into possession, after her death, of all the
family relics, the family bible, Lafayette's letter to Eachel
Preston Parsons, the old tune-book, pitch pipe for start-
ing the hymns, and other mementoes of Deacon Aaron
Parsons, 3d.

134 XI. Captain and Elder Charles Parsons was bom
March 1, 1811, and died unmarried, at Niagara Falls,
November 5, 1838. He was named after his great uncle.
Captain Charles Parsons, who commanded at Ticon-
deroga in 1780. He received his Captain's commission
from General Scott, at the time when the latter main-
tained by force of arms the neutrality of the United
States on the Niagara Eiver, during the uprising in
Canada known as the Patriot War.

In 1837 an insurrection took place in Canada, many of the
inhabitants being dissatisfied with goyemmental methods.
It threatened to cause international complications, since

139

many in the United States sympathized with the Canadians.
About 700 men, chiefly from New York State, under Mac-
kenzie, one of the leaders of the Canadian revolt, seized and
fortified Navy Island, in the Niagara River, within British
jurisdiction. They made this a base of operations for raids
on the Canadian shore until they were forced to evacuate
by a battery on the Canadian side. The steamer Caroline,
of which they had made use, was seized by the Canadian
militia at a wharf on the American side of the river, and
sent, on fire, with ten souls on board, over Niagara Falls.
This fiendish deed enraged the American people. Our gov-
ernment sent General Scott with a force of soldiers to pre-
vent infractions of our neutral position. In July, 1842,
Great Britain apologized to our government for the viola-
tion of territory made in the seizure of the Caroline, and
our government accepted the apology and expressed its sat-
isfaction.

OBITUARY.

Captain Charles Albert Parsons.

((

At Niagara Falls, N. Y., on the 5th instant, in the peace
and hope of the Gospel, Mr. Charles Albert Parsons, in the
twenty-eighth year of his age, after a lingering illness,
which he bore with distinguished Christian patience and
resignation. He was for several years an elder in the
church and superintendent of the Sabbath school, was de-
voted and zealous in every department of Christian duty;
and was liberal, intelligent, and active in the promotion of
every benevolent enterprise. The church with which he
was connected, and the society in which he was known,
deeply lament his loss, and will long cherish the remem-
brance of his many virtues.'

»»

ELDEE, SEEGEANT, AND JUSTICE AAEON iso

PARSONS, 4th,

born at Canaan, N. Y., learned woollen manufacturing
with Millard Fillmore, subsequently President of the
United States, in the woollen mills of Isaac Curtis and
Co. of Curtisville, near Stockbridge, Mass., in which
firm Aaron became a partner.* Subsequently, both Fill-

^ Millard Fillmore, the fellow apprentice In Curtis' woollen mills and life-
long friend of Aaron Parsons, 4th, was horn in Cayuga County, N. Y., Jan-
uary 7, 1800. He died at Buffalo, March 8, 1874. He served in Congress from
1833 to 1835, and from 1837 to 1843, as a Whig. In 1848 he was elected Vice-
President, and on President Taylor's death he succeeded to the presidency. In

134

140

more and Aaron Parsons prepared to teach school, from
which studies Fillmore subsequently turned to the study
of law. Aaron Parsons was married at Stockbridge,Mass.,
whence he removed to Wilson, N. Y. In the winter of
1826 Aaron taught school in Niagara County. In 1827
he removed to the village of Niagara Falls, where he re-
sided until 1835, engaged in woollen manufacturing.
Here he filled the office of justice of the peace. In the fall
of 1839 he sold his business and went to Pendleton, where
he was elected superintendent of public schools, which
office he held for a number of years. Through his efforts
the schools were raised to a high standard of excellence.

"General Peter B. Porter, United States Secretary of
War, 1828-29, with whom Aaron Parsons was long associ-
ated at Niagara, pronounced him a man of very superior
mind."

Aaron Parsons was a Democrat, advocating those
principles which won for the party its greatest successes,
viz., the limitation of the powers of the federal govern-
ment to those granted by the letter of the constitution,
and the increase of the direct influence of the people in
the affairs of the government. He was a consistent
Christian of the New England Puritan school, mild, yet
firm in discipline, but opposed to physical coercion.
Family prayer and grace at the table were the rule in his
household. Though descended from a line of tall ances-
tors, he was but of medium height, and while the Parsons
were dark-haired men, he inherited from the Prestons
sandy hair and fair complexion.

While still at Canaan, he was orderly sergeant in an ar-
tillery company. He was a man of courage, and when
over sixty years of age, being attacked by four masked
burglars in the county clerk's office at Kokomo, Ind.

1850 the Whigs in Congress took the position that the slavexy question, -which
they regarded as settled hy the compromise of 1850, should not be opened
again. This policy was approved by President Fillmore. Dissension followed
in the party in many of the States. In Massachusetts those opposed to the
stand thus taken by the leaders were known as Conscience VThigs; those that
approved as Cotton VThigs. In New York the supporters of Fillmore's views
were called Silver Grasrs, because they were mostly the older men. They were
also called the Snuff-Takers. Those opposing it, headed by W. H. Seward,
were called WooUey Heads or Seward Whigs.

141

(where his son Charles was then county clerk), he de-
fended himself stoutly, so that though his face was
bruised so badly as to close his eyes, and he was seriously
injured by being violently thrown down, the burglars
were foiled in their attempt to get the keys of the safe.

Millaj-d Fillmore sought to draw Aaron Parsons into
politics, but upon being oflEered, when a young man, a
nomination to the oifice of county clerk with the cer-
tainty of election, upon condition that he would permit
access to the records on Sundays, he refused to give his
consent, declined the nomination, and never again per-
mitted his name to be used as a candidate for political
preferment.

The following extracts from letters extant, written in
his twentieth and twenty-first years, will interest his de-
scendants:

" Lee, Mass., October 21, 1817.

** Dear Sister: I hear nothing from Canaan, the place that
was once most dear to me. The place is changed. No more
do I visit it. And if I should, it would only bring to mind
scenes that are past. No more should I there be greeted by
the kind welcome of parents, brothers and sisters. No
trace of these remains there, but the ashes of our beloved
and ever to be lamented father. For that circumstance I
revere the spot.

" In your letter to John you wrote as if you did not find
everything as you expected; I was fearful that you antici-
pated too much. To shun the ills of life we must shun life
itself; although some situations are preferable to others.
I thank you for your solicitude for our welfare and moral
character. Be assured there is a double guard set against
the odious vice of intemperance. Who has lived and not
seen the pernicious effects of this brutal vice. Man, whose
mind is capable of soaring to the heavens, casting himself
beneath the brutes that are confined to the earth! Intem-
perance creeps on insensibly, and those who are caught
find the net drawn tight before they are aware. When
once pride is lost, and dignity cast down, there is no rem-
edy; their doom is sealed; those men are ruined; ruined
forever, for this world and that which is to come."

" Lee, Mass., August 25, 1818.
** Dear Sister: . . . Reading and writing are my prin-
cipal amusements. I have found by experience that I have

142

not as much time to devote to these purposes as I had be- I
fore I commenced business for myself. You have often
read my thoughts upon the improvement of time. Every
day proves to me the absolute necessity of taking each mo-
ment and making a good use of it as soon as it comes. The
words of an English poet are a lesson to all mankind: ' Our
time of life is short. To spend that shortness basely 'twere
too long.' To spend our time in the improvement of our
minds or in providing for the necessary events of this world,
cannot be called * basely.* But to spend our time in riot or
in idleness must be called base in the extreme. How far I
act the base part I will not say; I am sensible that my mind
is occupied with the fleeting things of this world too much,
by far too much for my eternal welfare, and the glory of
my Maker. I often think of these things, and as often
drive them from my mind. Sometimes I think I have a
faint view of my awfully sinful condition, and then I feel as
if I would give a world to be free from it if it were in my
power. Such impressions are not apt to continue long; the
cares of this world soon disperse them. I live under
the care of an excellent minister of the Gospel. It is the
Rev. Dr. Hyde. I think he feels a particular interest in me.
At the first interview I had with him, he took me by the
hand as cordially as though we had always been ac-
quainted, and said: *I know you, and respect you for the
sake of your excellent father.' He had previously been in-
formed of my name and parentage. He has ever since ex-
pressed a particular regard for me. This happened a year
ago. When I informed him I had heard that two of my sis-
ters had made a public profession of religion, he made this
reply: * Then your excellent father's prayers are in part
answered.'

" I have now, dear sister, a subject to mention to you that
you will little expect from me. During the time that I re-
sided in Stockbridge, I became acquainted with a young
lady for whom I have a warm affection. The probability is
that I shall at some future period take her hand. She is of
respectable family* and in good circumstances; her educa-

♦ The young lady referred to was Emily Stow, his future wife. Her ancestry
was as follows:

Emily Stow was the daughter of (1) Elder Zebulon Stow = (2) Hannah
Spencer; son of (3) Captain Zebulon Stow = (4) Rosetta Riley; son of (5)
Joseph Stow = (6) Sarah Bulkeley; son of (7) Thomas Stow; son of (8)
Thomas; son of (9) John. (2) Hannah Spencer was of the Garrard Spencer
line from a branch of the ** noble house of Spencer," in England, descended
from the Despeneer of William the Conqueror. (4) Rosetta Riley was dau. of
(10) Nathaniel Riley = (11) Abigail Montague; dau. of (12) Richard Montague;
son of (13) John; son of (14) Richard = (15) Abigail Downing; son of (16)

143

tion is good, her manners affable, and her disposition pleas-
ant.

"My acquaintance with her has been long*. I have de-
ferred mentioning it till now for several reasons.

" Remember me to mother and all the family. I remain,
with love and esteem, your brother,

" Aabon Pabsons.

" p. S. — The bearer of this is the father of the lady men-
tioned above."

A letter to Aaron Parsons, 4th, from his brother-in-
law, Joseph W. Marsh, affords an interesting picture of a
new settler's life in New York State as late as 1820.

" Wilson, April 27, 1820.
" Dear Brother. — ^We arrived here the end of March, and
have taken up our residence in the woods. Our settlement

Peter Montague; son of (17) William; son of (18) Robert; son of (19) William;
of the family of Montacute, Earls of Salisbury, descended from Drogo de
Montacute, born 1040, went to England with the Conqueror, 1060; from
Fergus, king of Isle of Man; and from Orry, king of Denmark. (6) Sarah
Bulkeley was dau. of (20) Edward Bulkeley; son of (21) Rev. (Jershom Bul-
keley = (22) Sarah Chauncey; son of (23) Rev. Peter Bulkeley; son of Rev.
Edward, D.D.; descended from Robert, Lord of Bulkeley (temp. King John),
and Ormus de Dauenporte, 1086. (15) Abigail Downing was dau. of (24) Rev.
Dr. Downing; son of (25) George; son of (26) Sir Jeffrey = (27) Elizabeth
Wlngfield; dau. (28) Thomas Wingfleld; son of (29) Sir John; son of (30) Sir
John; son of (31) Sir Robert = (32) Elizabeth Ctousell; dau. of (33) Sir Robert
Gousell = (34) Eleanor Fitz-AUen; dau. (35) Sir John Fitz-Allen; son of (36)
Richard, Earl of Arundel = (37) Lady Eleanor Plantagenet; son of (38) Ed-
mund, Earl of Arundel = (39) Lady Alice Warren; dau. of (40) John, Earl of
Warren and Surrey; grandson of (41) Hamelln Plantagenet, Earl of Warren
and Surrey = (42) Isabella de Warren; grranddau. (43) William de Warren
= (44) Elizabeth Vermandoise; grandson of (45) William the Conqueror =
(46) Maud, dau. of (47) Baldwin, Count of Flanders. (22) Sarah Chauncey
was dau. of (48) Rev. Charles Chauncey, 2d Pres. Harvard College; de-
scended from (49) Sir William = (50) Joan Bigod; desc. from (51) Chauncey
de Chauncey, went from Chauncey in France to England with the Conqueror,
1066; name on Battle Abbey roll. (50) Joan Bigod was desc. from the Bigods,
Earls of Norfolk; desc. from William Bigod, ** the Conqueror," 1066; desc.
from King Charles the Simple; she (50) was also desc. from the de Veres,
Earls of Oxford; and from (51) William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke = (52)
Isabella de Clare; dau. of (53) Richard de Clare, " Strongbow " = (54) Eva
McMorrough, Strongbow's grandfather, the second Earl of Clare, was an-
cestor of the Plantagenet Kings of England. His wife (54) was dau. of (55)
Dermot McMorrough, last king of Leinster, 76th in descent from Milesius of
Spain, 99th from Magog, son of Japhet, and 95th in descent from Scota,
daughter of Meneptah, and granddau. of Rameses II. of Egypt (the Pharaoh
of the Exodus), descendant of the monarchs under whom the Pyramids werb
built. (See O'Hart's Celtic Pedigrees.) (47) Baldwin was desc. from Beringer,
King of Italy, Charles the Bald and Charlemagne. (48) Rev. Charles Chaun-
cey was 6th in descent from (56) Margery Gifford, who was 9th in descent
from (57) King William Leo of Scotland, who was 5th from King Duncan

144

consists of six men, three women, and four children in two
houses. Our chief employ has been to fell the stubborn
trees which stand thick all around us. The herbage cov-
ered the ground very early, and the trees are handsomely
green. With the dawn of each morning we are saluted with
the drumming of the partridge, and the sweet-tuned notes
of innumerable birds. As the day advances we hear the
sound of the wood-cock hammering the trees, the axes be-
gin their toil, and the fall of the stately trees causes the
woods to ring. The advancing sun cheers the chattering
squirrel as he hops from branch to branch, and the timid
deer feeds in peace through the day. The return of night is
saluted by the owl, and our weary limbs retire to the sweet-
est rest in peace. The last two days have been spent in
burning brush, ploughing gardens, planting a nursery of
apple, peach, plum, apricot, and quince trees, and splitting
rails. One tree that I worked at was a chestnut measuring
four feet ten inches around. I got seventy-one rails from
it. Tell your wife that since she has now changed her situ-
ation by getting married" [Aaron's wedding had taken
place a few weeks prior to the date of this letter] ** I re-
mind her, as she did me at my wedding, that she had better
settle somewhere near by a schoolhouse for the benefit of
her children."

(murdered by Macbeth), who was desc. from King Fergus I., B.C. 330. (56)
Margery Gifford was also 6th from Isabel de Albino, who was 4th from
(58) Maud de Clare, who was 3d in descent from (59) Judith (niece of William
the Conqueror), the granddau. of Robert the Devil (see Meyerbeer's
" Roberto "). (58) Maud was 6th from (60) Alfred the Great, who was 23d
in descent from Wotan and Freia (see Wagrner's " Nibelungs Ring "). (53)
Richard de Clare was 5th from (61) Hugh Capet, who was grandson of (62)
King Henry the Fowler of Germany (see Wagner's " Lohengrin "), who was
25th from Wotan. (57) King William the Lion was 11th from Prince
Rurik of Russia, A.D. 862, also (57) 4th in descent from King Henry I. of
France, who was 6th from Basileus the Macedonian, A.D. 867, of the Parthian
Royal family descended from Perseus. (30) Sir John Wingfield was 8th from
King Edward I., 9th from King Henry III., 10th from King John, 11th from
King Henry II., 12th from King Henry I., and 13th from William the Con-
queror. He (30) was also 7th from (63) Joan of Acres, who was descended
from the Kings of Lombardy, Aquitania and Super Arabia. (Authorities:
Anderson's *' Royal (Genealogies " ; ** Chauncey Memorial," etc.)

" Remember that his ancestress was an Egyptian, the daughter of a man
of my own class." " How many generations have passed to the tomb since?"
*' No matter! It brings us into closer relations." (Georg Ebers: ** Joshua.")

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145

THE DEATH OP CAPTAIN JEHIEL PARSONS. 125

(From the " Seneca Fanner," June 15, 1825.)

On Wednesday morning last was killed instantly by the
bursting of a swivel gim, Capt. Jehiel Parsons, in the 37th
year of his age. Under dispensations like the present the
best sympathies of our nature are awakened and the heart
knows no other solace to offer to the sorrow-stricken
relatives than to reiterate the virtues of the deceased. Few
men possess more of the virtues which adorn human nature
than was possessed by the subject of this notice. His mind
was capacious, his feelings liberal and generous to a fault;
yet bold, decisive and efficient in all his acts, and his prin-
ciples and temper partook of the manliness of his disposi-
tion and were regulated by it. As a son, he was devoted
to a pious and a widowed mother — as a brother he was
indulgent and kind — as a neighbor and a citizen he was
without display — conciliating and patriotic. His public
spirit showed its efficiency on every occasion where per-
sonal exposure and exertion were required. This dispensa-
tion is rendered more afflicting as the worthy mother had
just returned from a long journey occasioned by the death
of another son.

General La Fayette had proceeded as far as Syracuse be-
fore he was informed of the melancholy occurrence, the
committee here, not having deemed it prudent to mar his
pleasure by the knowledge of a circumstance so peculiarly
afflicting. He extremely regretted that he was not made
acquainted with the event while here, since notwithstand-
ing the pressure of his engagements he would have stopped
and spent the day in mourning with the disconsolate fam-
ily. He has sent back a deputation to inquire into the
minute particulars of the accident.

(From the " Seneca Farmer," June 19, 1825.)

Auburn, June 19, 1825.
General La Fayette —

Dear General: I have the satisfaction of announcing to

you that in obedience to the directions with which you

honored me, I hastened to visit the family of the deceased

Mr. Parsons at Waterloo. His aged mother and surviving

sisters were found, as may be supposed, in deep distress

at the occurrence of an awful catastrophe which has in

an instant deprived them of their protector, and the village

of a citizen universally esteemed. I communicated to them

as from yourself, sir, the benevolent expressions of your

146

paternal condolence and assured them of the sincere grief
with which a knowledge of the accident had affected the
heart of him in whom all America recognizes a Father^ and
believe me, sir, that in the midst of the solitude of grief,
this bereaved family are duly sensible of the value of your
condoling friendship; and that the citizens of that place
consider their esteem for General La Fayette as enhanced
by the remembrance of his excited sympathies in a case of
distress so touching and irremediable.

On the joyous morning of your long-anticipated arrival,
Capt. Parsons, after an early breakfast, left his widowed
mother to repair to his usual place of business. His last
words on leaving the house were — **I will arrange my
affairs for the day as soon as possible, as I wish to go up
to the hotel, and see the General." Ill-fated victim! He
had proceeded but a few yards when the fatal accident
happened by which he passed immediately out of present
being, leaving a family and a town in consternation and
sorrow.

The citizens of Waterloo are anxious, sir, that you should
not be impressed with an idea that this melancholy dis-
aster took place in the ordinary discharge of a soldier's
duties, or at a parade of their military body. The act was
strictly individual and arose from the imprudence and
rashness of a few persons with whom the deceased had
been in no degree connected. . . .

Your obdt. serv't,

G. A. Gamage.

(Extract from reply of the Marquis de La Fayette.)

Washington, August 3d, 1825.

My Dear Sir: I much regret the delay of my answer to

your kind letter, June 16th, and also the circumstances

which have deferred the condoling tribute of sympathy to

Mrs. Parsons. ... I have understood that arrangements

had been made by her son, which would be defeated were

they not enabled to pay a sum of money for a tract of

land purchased by him. A sum of $1,000 being fully equal

to that purpose, I have taken the liberty to send it with my

letter to Mrs. Parsons. Receive my best thanks, . . .

La Fayette.
G. A. Gamage, Esq.,

Auburn, N. Y.

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

147

THE CHILDEEN OF SEEGEANT AND ELDEE
AAEON PAESONS, 4th, AND EMILY STOW
PAESONS.

I. Harriet Eliza Parsons, born at Canaan, N. Y.,
February 7, 1821, died at Pendleton, N. Y., July 19,
1844, unmarried.

II. Sergeant Frederick Spencer Parsons, born at
Canaan, N. Y., March 30, 1824. Married Eliza, daugh-
ter of Eichard Welton, of Beech Eidge, Niagara Co.,
N. Y. No issue. After the death of his wife, Mr. Par-
sons sold his property in Niagara Co., and purchased
seventy acres near East Northport, Long Island.

III. Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and Elder John
Jehiel Parsons was bom at Wilson, N. Y., May 21,
1827; died at East Northport, L. I., April 27, 1894.

IV. Emily Parsons, born at Niagara Falls, N. Y.,
June 8, 1829. Married Colonel Joseph W. Holmes, of
the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery in the War of
Secession.

V. Aaron Parsons, 5th, bom at Niagara Falls, N. Y.,

October 20, 1831; died at Wabash, Ind., September 28,

1856, unmarried.

" He was an excellent and estimable young man." —
Buffalo Advertiser.

VI. Corporal Zebulon Stow Parsons, bom at Niagara
Falls, N. Y., July 31, 1834; killed in the battle of
Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864, unmarried.

VII. Elder Charles Albert Parsons, born at Lock-
port, N. Y., July 11, 1839; died July, 1898, interred at
Peru, Ind., where he long resided, being several times
elected County Clerk of Miami Co. He was a Free
Mason, an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and for
twenty-three years superintendent of the Sunday-school.
He married Mary Ferris, of Niagara Falls, N. Y. Was
buried with the rites of the Order.

" A final proof of the high esteem in which every one
in the commnnity held Charles A. Parsons was shown by
the attendance at his funeral ceremonies in the Presby- ■

180

148

terian Church, the congregation more than filling the audi-
torium. The body was viewed by hundreds of people be-
fore the ceremonies. The Knights Templar of Logansport
and the Peru lodge of Masons took places reserved in the
forward part of the church. The Reverend Leon P. Mar-
shall, a former pastor of the church and an especial friend
of Mr. Parsons, came from Franklin especially for the
service. His words were those of comfort, and of exhorta-
tion to all to follow the very high example of Mr. Parsons's
life, a precious life that had gone to its reward. Mr. Par-
sons's private life was noble and helpful to others. His
public life was perfect and would stimulate others to fol-
low his good example." — Peru Evening Journal.

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and Elder John
Jehiel Parsons was educated by a tutor for a pro-
fession, and graduated at De Vaux College, Niagara
Falls, N. Y., showing marked talent for classics and
mathematics. Deciding upon a business career, he left
home at eighteen years of age, and went into business
at Buffalo, N. Y. Marrying, at the age of nineteen, he
went to Sandusky, 0., in 1847, where his eldest child
was bom. In 1858 he returned to Buffalo, where he
was partner in the firm of Parsons and Johnson, manu-
facturers of printed and blank books, in connection
with the printing-house of Thomas and Lathrop, pub-
lishers of the "Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.^* In
1857 he removed to Indianapolis, Ind., where he carried
on the same business in connection with the "Daily
Sentinel " newspaper. After the war he went to Utica,
N. Y.., where he resided from 1868 to 1870. He then
removed to New York City, where he resided until a
few months before his death, when he took up his resi-
dence with his brother, Frederick, at East Northport,
L. I. In New York City Mr. Parsons organized, and
was for several years secretary and treasurer and a stock-
holder in the New York Sanitary Supply Company, now
on a dividend-paying basis. He also devised the novel
plans upon which the Columbia Building and Loan
Association was organized. On the advice of Shepard
Homans, Esq., a prominent actuary and President of the

137

.«-

149

Provident Savings Life Association of New York, the
trustees of the Columbia Association voted Mr. Parsons
$5,000 of the preferred stock of the said association in
exchange for his plans of organization, and he was an-
nually re-elected secretary and treasurer of the corpora-
tion, which offices he held at his death.

The family burial-plot and obelisk are at Utica, N. Y.,
but Mr. Parsons is interred near East Northport. The
stone marking his place of rest bears the following in-
scription:

" JOHN JEHIEL PARSONS.

Born at Wilson, New York, May 21, 1827,
Died at East Northport, L. I., April 24, 1894.

»>

•* He was a Lieutenant in the Militia, Brevet Lieutenant-
Colonel Camp of Instruction for Volunteers, 1861, an An-
cient Scottish Kite Mason, 32d degree, and an Elder in
the Presbyterian Church.

" A man of liberal education
And active, inquiring mind:
In all the duties of life
Uncorrupt and honorable:
Sympathetic and generous,
Wishing well to all:
Happy in himself
And agreeable to his associates,
He lived for others
And died rejoicing in the
Faith of Salvation through
Jesus Christ."

Mr. Parsons married, February 2, 1846, at Buffalo,
IT. Y., Sarah Volinda Averill, daughter of Corporal
Samuel Averill, Jr., of Gowanda, Cattaraugus Co.,
N. Y., a soldier of the War of 1812; he was the only
son of Samuel Averill, Sr., of Eandolph, Plymouth, and
West Brookfield, Vt., who was a soldier in the War of the
Eevolution, a brother of Asa Averill, and son of John*, line
of John^, William^, William^ Averill of Ipswich, Mass.

" The Averills have been public-spirited, decided and
energetic in the performance of business and duty." —
Cothren's " Woodbury."

150

The mother of Samuel Averill, Jr., of Gowanda, was
Molly Barnes, of Concord, Mass. In her Bible, pre-
served for three generations in the family, she wrote, in
her girlhood, the following lines:

«(

Molly Barnes is my name,
English is my nation;

Concord is my dwelling-place,
Christ is my salvation.**

THE CHILDKEN OF BEEVET LIEUTENANT- 187
COLONEL JOHN JEHIEL PAESONS AND
SAEAH AVEEILL PAESONS.

142 I. Albert Eoss Parsons, author of the "Sjmthetic
Method for the Pianoforte *^ ; " Parsifal, the Finding of
Christ through Art ^^ ; " New Light from the Great
Pyramid " ; and the present Parsons^s Memorial, bom
at Sandusky, 0., September 16, 1847.

143 11. Marie Emilie Parsons, bom at Buffalo, N. Y.,
June 13, 1851.

144 HI. Ella Teresa Parsons, born at BuflEalo, N. Y., July
18, 1854.

145 IV. Kate Burwell Parsons, bom at Buffalo, N. Y.,
July 15, 1856.

146 V. Frederick Chester Parsons, bom at Indianapolis,
Ind., November 21, 1859.

147 VI. Harriet Sophronia Parsons, born at Indianapolis,
Ind., March 11, 1862; died at Utica, N. Y., March 2,
1869.

148 VII. John Edward Parsons, bom at Indianapolis,
Ind., March 27, 1865.

149 VIII. Horace Talbot Parsons, bom at Indianapolis,
Ind., April 9, 1868; died at Utica, N. Y., March 6, 1862.

Note. — Detailed information as to Brevet Lieutenant-
Colonel John Jehiel Parsons, and his descendants, will be
preserved in the custody of the New York Historical So-
ciety.

i^^JUj>~-vy^ ^l-i)-<^ '?^L>t4.0-r<-^

151

CHILDEEN OP CAPTAIN CHAELES PARSONS 105
AND LUCY BALDWIN PARSONS.

150 I. Charles Parsons, b. 1785; had one daughter.

151 II. Ebenezer Parsons, b. 1788; d. young.

152 III. Isaac Parsons, b. 1789; went to Canada.

153 IV. Lucy Parsons, b. 1791; m. John Anderson; had
five children.

154 V. Lewis Baldwin Parsons, b. 1793; m. Lucina Hoar.

155 VI. Walter Chamberlain Parsons, b.^ North Adams,
Mass., March 30, 1795; d. June 17, 1859, at Middletown,
N. J.; m., March 28, 1829, Mary Moreford; b. Decem-
ber 6, 1800; d. March 23, 1875.

156 VII. Marshall Parsons, b. 1797; d. 1813.

CHILDREN OF WALTER CHAMBERLAIN PAR- 155
SONS AND MARY MOREFORD PARSONS.

157 I. Lucy Moreford Parsons, b. September 27, 1832; d.
in Germany, August 10, 1870; m. Wm. Wurdeman, Civil
Engineer, January, 23, 1859.

158 11. Charles Baldwin Parsons, b Monmouth, N. J.,
July 3, 1835; m., January 20, 1868, Elizabeth M. Ber-
gen, b. October 3, 1848. Enlisted November, 1861, in
Ist New York Engineers and served with distinction till
close of the Rebellion, July, 1865, on Staff of Major-Gen-
eral Terry as Inspector, on that of Major-General Butler
as Engineer, and as Chief Engineer, 25th Army Corps,
on Staff of Major-General Weitzel, participating in the
battles about Charleston, S. C, and Petersburg, Va.
Retired with the rank of Captain and Brevet Major.

LEWIS BALDWIN PARSONS, SEN. 154

Lewis Baldwin Parsons, b. Williamstown, Mass., April
30, 1793; d. Detroit, Mich., December 21, 1855; m.,
November 10, 1814, Homer, N. Y., Lucina Hoar; b.
October 31, 1790, Brimfield, Mass.; d. October 3, 1873,

152

Gouvemeur, N. Y. He was a successful merchant, a man
of uncommon force and energy of character, of rare
catholicity in his religious views, as also in the breadth
of his charities, and was the founder of Parsons* College,
Iowa.

The English ancestry of Lucina Hoar, and the early
history of her family in America, may be found in the
researches made in both countries by Hon. George F.
Hoar, United States Senator from Massachusetts, and
published in the New England Historical and Genealog-
ical Register for January, April, and July, 1899.

EXTKACT FROM THE WILL OF LEWIS BALDWIN

PARSONS.

" Fourth. Having long been of the opinion that for use-
fulness» prosperity, and happiness of children, a good
moral and intellectual or business education with moderate
means was far better than large inherited wealth; I there-
fore herein dispose of my estate mainly to such benevolent
objects and enterprises as I think will conduce to the great-
est good, earnestly requesting that all my children after
giving to their children a good education with habits of
honesty, industry, economy, and liberality, will follow my
example in the disposition of the property God may g^ve
them."

CHILDEEN OF LEWIS BALDWIN PARSONS 164
AND LUCINA HOAE PARSONS.

159 I. Oetavia Parsons, b., in Seipio, N. Y., October 27,
1815; d. December 25, 1881; m., August, 1838, Wm.
Era&tus Sterling; b. June 4, 1801; d. March 5, 1861; mer-
chant of Gouvemeur, N. Y.

160 11. Philo Parsons, b. Seipio, N. Y., February 7, 1817;
d. Winchenden, Mass., January 23, 1896; m., June 27,
1843, Moscow, N. Y., Ann Eliza Bamum; b. September
14, 1822; d., Detroit, Mich., April 25, 1893.

161 HI. General Lewis Baldwin Parsons, jr.; b. Genesee
Co., N. Y., April 5, 1818.

153

162

163

IV. Lucy Ann Parsons, b. January 11, 1820; d. May
9, 1859; m., at Gouvemeur, N. Y., Charles S. Cone, mer-
chant.

V. Harriet Matilda Parsons, b. March 22, 1822; d.
August 22, 1823.

104 VI. Charies Parsons, b. January 24, 1824; m. Martha
A. Pettus; b. March 23, 1830; d. February 13, 1889.

165 VII. Levi Parsons, b. January 24, 1826; d., St. Louis,
Mo., April 9, 1850.

166 VIII. Emily Parsons, b. June 11, 1828; d. Decem-
ber 17, 1833.

167 IX. George Parsons, merchant and banker, b. Gouver-
neur, N. Y., January 2, 1830; m., October 23, 1855,
Emily Lycett Bamum, b. April 30, 1830.

168 X. Helen Maria Parsons, b. July 19, 1834; d. August
6, 1863; m., November 16, 1868, George B. Boardman.

PHILO PAESONS.

Tribute by Prof. Joseph L. Daniels, of Olivet College,

Michigan, Deo. 2, 1897.

Mr. Philo Parsons was bom at Scipio, N. Y., February 6,
1817. His early years were spent in Gouvemeur, Homer,
and Perry, N. Y. At the latter place, he entered into busi-
ness with his father under the firm name of L. B. Parsons
& Son. And he also married there, in 1843, Miss Ann Eliza
Bamum. Their long and happy married life was ter-
minated in 1893 by the death of Mrs. Parsons, Mr. Parsons
following her three years later, dying at Winohenden,
Mass., January 20, 1896. Eight children were bom to them,
of whom seven survived their parents. In 1844, Mr. Parsons
removed to Detroit, Mich., and entered upon the grocery
business under the firm of Parsons & James. A few years
later he established a private bank. In 1861, when the Gov-
ernment created the national banking system as an aid in
carrying on the war, Mr. Parsons was the leader in organ-
izing the First National Bank of Detroit, was its first presi-
dent, and for many years one of its directors. He did much
to promote the commercial prosperity of Detroit. He en-
tered heartily into the project for bringfing the Wabash
Railroad into the city, was an active member of the Board
of Trade, and for a time its president. For many years he

160

154

represented his own city in the National Board of Trade
and was honored repeatedly as one of its vice-presidents.
His discussions in these national conventions show a wealth
of information, a candor and breadth of view, and a dis-
crimination akin to prophecy. He was an ardent lover of
his own city and State, and yet on one occasion explained
his vote, apparently against their interests, as **for the
greatest good of the greatest number.**

Mr. Parsons was active in the municipal affairs of Detroit,
and for a time a member of its council. The State, too,
more than once conferred upon him distinguished honors
and trusts; notably as commissioner to the Yorktown Cen-
tennial, and as chairman of the Commission to secure the
statue of General Lewis Cass to be placed in the Capitol at
Washington. He brought to this work all the enthusiasm
of a lifelong friendship and a patriotic pride for the honor
of his beloved State. The statue, almost vocal with life,
crowned his many months of toil and effort and was one
of the great joys of his life. He honored himself in honor-
ing the State.

Yet political offices and honors he did not seek. He even
declined to consider them when they merely appealed to
his personal ambition. Too much Puritanic and revolu-
tionary blood flowed in his veins to ever regard public offices
as anything but a sacred trust, a patriotic service. Mr.
Parsons had a lively interest in agriculture, was an active
member of the State Ag^^icultural Society of Michigan, and
served most acceptably as its president. He was an en-
thusiast in horticulture and fruit culture, and found relaxa-
tion and pleasure in personal work in his own garden, one
of the finest in Detroit. He was a royal entertainer, and
was never happier than when sharing the hospitality of his
elegant home with his friends.

His benevolence was a matter of principle. He took spe-
cial delight in aiding young men who were preparing for
the work of Christian ministry. He was one of the largest
and most systematic givers to the cause of missions. He
was an enthusiastic believer in education.

While several institutions were looking with eagfer eyes
toward the Eam Library at Heidelberg, Mr. Parsons bought
and donated it in its entirety to the Michigan State Uni-
versity. In keeping with his father's spirit, he was espe-
cially devoted to the Christian College. He early became
interested in Olivet College, Michigan. For thirty-six years
he was a member of its board of trustees. He built his
name into the history and even the very walls of the col-
lege. Parsons Hall and the Parsons Professorship are hon-

^<^^ s A

155

ored words to-day. Not only his munificent gifts, but his
wise counsels and his lifelong devotion to the work at
Olivet are gratefully remembered. And no less were these
deeds of benevolence a grateful remembrance to Mr. Par-
sons himself. They were his glory and joy in his later years
of illness. He found a rich reward in the satisfaction of
building himself into institutions of education and religion.
Olivet College grew dearer to him. His home church, the
First Congregational Church of Detroit, grew dearer. His
beloved pastor and his intimate friends at Olivet received
frequent letters full of gratitude and joy for what he had
been permitted to do, and full of trust and hope in prospect
of a blessed immortality. In this spirit, he entered into
rest. His death was literally a sleep. He slept on earth to
awake in Heaven.

BEEVET MAJOR GENERAL LEWIS BALDWIN 161

PARSONS.

General Parsons, b. Genesee Co., N. Y., April 5, 1818;
Yale College, 1840; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1844;
Captain of Volunteers, October 31, 1861; Colonel and
Aide-de-Camp to Major-General Halleck, April 4, 1862;
Brigadier-General, May 11, 1865, by autographic order
of President Lincoln, for special services; Brevet Major-
General, April 30, 1866; Democratic candidate for
Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois in 1880 on the ticket
with Judge Lyman Trumbull for Governor. Delegate
to the National Democratic Convention which nom-
inated Grover Cleveland for President in 1884. Presi-
dent Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, 1893-97; mem-
ber G. A. R. and Army of the Tennessee, and Companion
of Loyal Legion.

General Parsons's early years were mostly spent at school
or in his father's country store at Gouverneur, St. Lawrence
Co., New York. He entered Yale College in 1836. His father
having suffered severely in the financial revulsions of 1837,
he was obliged to struggle for an education under great
difficulties, yet, by his energy and industry, he graduated
with reputation in his class in 1840. In order to discharge

156

debts incurred in college, and obtain funds to enable him
to pursue his professional education, he taught a classical
school in Mississippi for two years, evincing those traits of
energy and integrity which not only then met with a just
reward, but which have characterized him through his suc-
cessful life. Entering Harvard Law School, then presided
over by Justice Story and Professor Qreenleaf , in 1842, he
pursued his studies till the spring of 1844, when, turning
his steps westward, he landed in St. Louis in March of that
year, with funds only sufficient to pay a drayman to take
his baggage to a hotel, a good library, for which he owed
$600; a determined will, and an honest purpose to succeed.
Less than twenty years after, the same man had been the
financial manager of the Ohio and Mississippi Kailroad —
one of the greatest commercial arteries leading to the same
city; and had been for years engaged in directing the trans-
portation of great armies, with all their supplies, animals,
and munitions, during a long war of the greatest magni-
tude — controlling, by his single will, under the general or-
der of the Secretary of War, all the vast means and modes
of transportation, not only of all the rivers and railroads
of the West, but of the entire country — such are the changes
of our country and time!

Mr. Parsons, soon after reaching St. Louis, went to Alton
and became the partner of Newton D. Strong, an eminent
lawyer and a brother of Judge Strong, of the United States
Supreme Court. The firm did a large and successful busi-
ness till Mr. Strong left the State, when Mr. Parsons formed
a partnership with Judge Henry W. Billings. In 1853 Mr.
Parsons left Alton and became the legal adviser of the g^eat
banking house of Page & Bacon, then engaged in construct-
ing the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, at the same time pur^
chasing the land on which he has since made the large farm
on which he now resides. On the suspension of the banking
house of Page & Bacon, Messrs. Aspinwall and associates
took possession of the railroad, retaining Mr. Parsons as the
general western manager. In the various positions of at-
torney, treasurer, manager, director, and president of this
road for nearly a quarter of a century, he discharged his
duties so as to secure the perfect confidence of all parties
and the public in his integrity, energy, and capacity. In 1860
General Parsons resigned his official position with a view of
rest and a European tour; but, perceiving the country was
on the brink of a civil war, he resolved to stay at home and
serve the nation. Soon after the commencement of the war
General George B. McClellan, who, as vice-president of the
Ohio and Mississippi Kailroad, had known General Parsons

157

and his abilities, offered him a position under him in the
East, which was at once accepted, and he proceeded thither.

Early satisfied that the field and the West best suited his
taste. Gen. Parsons obtained an order to report to St. Louis,
with the view to raising a regiment. On arriving there, (Gen-
eral Curtis, commanding the department, placed him on a
commission with Captain, now Lieutenant-General, Sheri-
dan, to investigate the affairs connected with General Fre-
mont's administration, which soon led to the celebrated
Holt-Davis commission of greater civil powers. In the mean
time. General Halleck having taken command, and finding
nothing but disorder and confusion in the transportation
service — that it was conducted utterly regardless of system
vr economy — was inefficient and the source of endless com-
plaints by the railroads, who neither knew whose orders to
obey nor how to obtain compensation due them, learning
of General Parsons's experience and abilities, obtained an
order from the Secretary of War placing him on his staff
as aide-de-camp, with rank of colonel, and gave him entire
charge of the railroad and river transportation. General
Parsons accepted the situation with a cheerful confidence,
which was amply vindicated by the results, and which soon
brought order and harmony out of chaos and confusion.
Introducing a few simple, well-defined rules, combining
uniformity with responsibility, and efficiency with econ-
omy, a revolution was at once effected most satisfactory
to the Government officers and the railroads performing
service, so that they, as well as all river navigation, became
part of a single, central system, acting not only with power
and efficiency, but with unsurpassed economy. Such suc-
cess gained the entire confidence of the Government, and
General Parsons*s authority soon became complete and co-
extensive with the valley west of the Alleghanies, extending
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Indian wars, two thousand
miles up the Yellowstone, as also the Upper Mississippi.
In 1863 the Secretary of War ordered General Parsons to
Washington, but revoked the order on his tendering his
resignation rather than leave the West. In 1864, however,
on an imperative order of the Secretary, he took charge of
the Rail and River Transportation of the entire country,
and in a brief period perfected a complete organization and
introduced rules, regulations, and forms, which were made
the permanent basis of action for that important depart-
ment.

It is a singular fact that, though so successful in all re-
spects. General Parsons twice tendered his resignation in
order to raise a regiment for active field service, which was.

158

as it should have been, imperatively declined by the Secre-
tary of War. Happening to be present at the first attack
on Vicksburg, he tendered his services and acted as volun-
teer aid to General Sherman, and subsequently acted in like
capacity on General McClemand's staff, at the battle and
capture of Arkansas Post, virhere he vsras among the first to
enter the fortification, and for which he received special no-
tice from the commanding officers. Soon after the surren-
der of Lee, General Parsons tendered his resignation, his
private business imperatively requiring his attention, but
was detained by the Secretary of War for many months
to aid in important service. The same firmness, energy, and
economy have distinguished General Parsons equally in
public and private life, and evinced his superior organizing
and administrative abilities.

There is upon record abundant evidence from the highest
authority — from such men as President Lincoln, Generals
Grant and Sherman, Judge David Davis, E. B. Washbume,
and others — of most meritorious service, all agreeing that
General Parsons's administration saved millions to the Gov-
ernment.

As early as September 13, 1863, that most able and excel-
lent officer. General Kobert Allen, then Colonel Parsons's
superior, in v^riting the Secretary of War, asking for Colo-
nel Parsons's promotion, among other things, said: " Hav-
ing had charge of that most important branch of the ser-
vice, steamboat and railroad transportation, his duties have
been arduous, and highly responsible, and he has dis-
charged them with, signal success and ability. His admin-
istration of this branch of the department has been emi-
nently satisfactory. No military movement in the West
has failed or faltered for lack of transportation or supplies
of any kinds. The vsrants of armies in the field have been
anticipated and met with alacrity and dispatch. If indus-
try joined to capacity, and integrity to energy, all possessed
and duly exercised in the same person, entitled him to ad-
vancement, then I may safely claim promotion for Colonel
Parsons."

"It is to General Parsons's matchless combinations that
must be attributed much of the efficiency and success that
almost invariably marked every military movement in the
West. When the climax of General Grant's Western re-
nown was reached in the battles before Chattanooga, and he
was transferred to the command of all the armies, with
headquarters at Washington, he lost no time in bringing
General (then Colonel) Parsons to Washington to direct
from that centre the machinery that he had become so

159

completely the master of. In 1864 Secretary Stanton or-
dered him to Washington, extending his duties to the
entire country. May 11, 1865, on the autographic order of
President Lincoln, for distinguished services, he was pro*
moted to the rank of brigadier-general, and, on retiring
from the service, April 30, 1866, w^as brevetted major-general
of volunteers."

General Parsons's eminent executive ability and success
in the rapid movement of large armies for long distances,
with their vast supplies and munitions of v^rar, were,
among other instances, shown in the movement of General
Sherman's army of forty thousand men for the first attack
on Vicksburg, as also in the transfer of General Schofield's
army from Eastport, Miss., over the Alleghany Mountains,
to the Potomac, in midwinter, a distance of fourteen hun-
dred miles, in an average time of eleven days, instead of
thirty, allowed by the Secretary of War. This movement
was pronounced by the Secretary, as also by English and
French authorities, as unequaled in rapidity and success in
the annals of war. General Parsons's duties kept him
mostly from the field, but when present, during several
engagements, he volunteered as aide and received special
commendation for services rendered, and was also tendered
by Secretary Stanton a position in the Kegular Army with
rank of Colonel, which he declined.

His record of duty is perhaps best shown by the following
extracts of letters from Generals Grant and Sherman :

May 20, 1865, General Grant writes: " The position (chief
of rail and river transportation of the armies of the United
States) is second in importance to no other connected with
the military service, and to have been appointed to it at the
beginning of a war of the magnitude and duration of this,
and holding it to its close, providing transportation for
whole armies, with all that appertains to them, for thou-
sands of miles, adjusting accounts involving millions of
money, and doing justice to all, never delaying for a mo-
ment any military operations dependent upon you, evi-
dences an honesty of purpose, knowledge of men, and ex-
ecutive ability of the highest order, and of which any man
might be justly proud." ♦

October 29, 1865, General Sherman writes: " I more espe-
cially recall the fact that you collected at Memphis, in
December, 1862, boats enough to transport forty thousand
men, with full equipments and stores, on less than a week's

* General Parsons's Reports, orders and correspondence as found In more
than twenty volumes of the " Rebellion Record," will ever be the lasting
memorial of his services to his country in the hour of its need.

160

notice, and subsequently that you supplied an army of one
hundred thousand men, operating near Vicksburg, for six
months, without men or horses being in want for a single
day. I beg to express my admiration of the system and
good sense which accomplished results so highly useful to
the whole country."

Soon after the war, General Parsons visited Europe and
the East, seeking to regain his health, greatly impaired
by over four years of incessant labor, he having been ab*
sent from duty but twenty-one days while in service.

After two years spent abroad, and several years as presi-
dent of a bank in St. Louis, General Parsons, in 1874, re-
tired to Flora, 111., where he now resides, engaged in man-
aging a large landed estate purchased in the early settle-
ment of Illinois.

During the war, while faithfully serving his country, he
never wavered in his political faith. Beginning a Douglas
war-Democrat, he continued such, though some of his
friends firmly believed this long delayed his just promo-
tion. Continuing since the war an earnest but conserva^
tive Democrat, he has never been drawn into any temporary
political experiments, but has believed that thei-e lay at the
foundation of true Democratic principles certain great
truths which, in time, would assert supreme power, and in
their practical application restore the Government to the
simplicity, economy, and honesty of the better days of the
republic. General Parsons greatly aided in restoring Dem-
ocratic majorities in Southern Illinois, not only by his abil-
ities as a public speaker, but by his organizing abilities
and great energy of character.

Extract from a letter of General Parsons, November 25,
1897:

" As a Democrat, I voted for Douglas in 1860. After the
war began, I gave my utmost efforts to the Government,
regardless of politics. Since the war I have been, as I was
before, a Jeffersonian Democrat from deep conviction, and
that greatly against my personal interest and the solicita-
tion of my personal friends. I have never sought or desired
office, but had I become a Republican political honors were
doubtless within my reach. Twice I could have gone to
Congress as a Democrat, by accepting a nomination, but
I had no taste that way."

Extract from report of Captain F. S. Winslow, A. Q. M.,
to General Parsons, February 13, 1865:

" General — ^From my peaceful home, looking back on the
events of the last four years, and especially fixing my mind's
eye on the gigantic movements of armies and supplies,

161

where thousands of miles of distances, and barriers of des-
erts and mountains were counted as nothing, even I, who
had something to do with the detail of this great work,
cannot help feeling astonished and asking how was it done?
The question will be repeated by our children when they
come to read the history of the rebellion; and I hope that
you, Greneral, will leave them sufficient records to show
how, in the age of steam and electricity, and with these as
servants, an energetic mind could move armies with almost
the facility with which a family changes its residence, and
could supply them with the promptness found in a well-
regulated household. * * * To you belongs the credit
of having accomplished such great results; to me, the satis-
faction of having supported you to the utmost of my
ability." — (Compiled from Public Records by the Editor.)

Note. — How Histoby once Made is aftebwards Falsi-
fied. — ^The general public takes little interest in war be-
yond reports of battles fought. The clash of arms and
a few of the chief actors therein absorb the attention,
leaving out of account the strenuous exertions of others
whose unremitting and sagacious labors supply the forces
and the conditions which make victory possible. Thus, after
an interview with Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War in
the War of Secession, Mr. Henry J. Raymond, then editor
of the New York "Times," wrote editorially: "If Sec-
retary Stanton were called on to name the officer who more
than any other had distinguished himself in the task of
wielding the vast machinery of the Union Armies during
all stages of the conflict in response to the plans and re-
quirements of our Generals, he would with little hesitation
designate General Lewis B. Parsons of St. Louis. It is to
his matchless combinations that must be attributed much
of the efficiency and success that almost invariably marked
every military movement in the West " [where the first
and determining successes of the War were won].

General Parsons's exploit in transferring the army corps
of General Schofield from the Tennessee River to the Po-
tomac, in the depths of winter, in less than fourteen days,
and that without the loss of a man, an animal, or a gun.
Secretary Stanton pronounced an achievement ** without
a parallel in the movement of armieSj^* and he therefore
requested from General Parsons a special report on the
exploit, which report is contained in the ninety-ninth
volume of th^ Rebellion Records. The facts of the case
being thus fully established, it might have been supposed
that they would thenceforth remain undisturbed. But

162

in 1898 there appeared a book written by Mr. Stanton's
Assistant Secretary, Charles A. Dana, whose editorial con-
duct of the New York " Sun " after the war became
notorious on account of the ceaseless malignity of his
vituperation against General Grant. In this book, entitled
" Recollections of the Civil War," said Dana appropri-
ated to himself the above achievement of General Parsons,
in the following words: "Moving an Abmt Cobps 1,400
Miles. — The election was hardly over before the people
of the North began to prepare Thanksgiving boxes for
the army. From Philadelphia I received a message ask-
ing for transportation to Sheridan's Army for boxes con-
taining 4,000 turkeys. A couple of months later, in Jan-
uary, 1865, a piece of work not so different from the
' turkey business,' but on a rather larger scale, fell to me.
This was the transfer of the Twenty-third Army Corps
from its position on the Tennessee River, to Chesapeake
Bay." His account of how he (Dana) performed this work
(really done by General Parsons) Dana concludes by ap-
propriating, with slight verbal changes. General Parsons's
own summary of results accomplished, from his (the Gen-
eral's) special report to Secretary Stanton! Dana's actual
share in that achievement^ consisted in his being directed
by Secretary Stanton to communicate to General Parsons
the fact that said transfer of General Schofield's Army
Corps was desired, and to learn from him (General Par-
sons) how soon he could promise to effect it. Upon con-
dition that he (Parsons) was given the right to use the
name of the Secretary of War in seizure of cars, boats,
etc., whenever he deemed it essential. General Parsons un-
dertook to transfer said army corps within thirty days.
He actually accomplished it in less than fourteen days, and
that in spite of fog and ice on the rivers and violent snow-
storms in the mountains, amid unusual severities of mid-
winter. — (Editor.)

163

CHILDEEN OF GENERAL LEWIS BALDWIN 161

PAESONS.

General Parsons married, first, at St. Louis, Mo., Sep-
tember 21, 1847, Sarah Green Edwards; b. September
12, 1820; d. May 28, 1850.
Children:

169 I. Lewis Green Parsons, b. August 3, 1848; Yale Uni-
versity, 1872; d., at Denver, Col., January 29, 1875.

170 II. Sarah Edwards Parsons, b. May 15, 1850; d., at
St. Paul, Minn., May 10, 1873.

General Parsons married, second, at St. Louis, Mo.,
July 5, 1852, Julia Maria Edwards, b. June 8, 1830; d.
June 9, 1857.
Children:

171 III. Julia Edwards Parsons, b. September 13, 1854.

172 IV. Charles Levi Parsons, b. March 31, 1856.
After the war and his tour abroad. General Parsons

married, third, at New York City, December 28, 1869,
Elizabeth Darrah, b. June 25, 1832; d. at Scarborough,
Me., September 2, 1887. No children.

From the Encyclopedic History of St. Louis. 164

COLONEL CHAELES PAESONS,

President of the State Bank of St. Louis.

Ck>lonel Charles Parsons was bom at Homer, Cortland Co.,
N. Y., January 24, 1824. He received an academical educa-
tion at Gonverneur and Homer, N. Y. After spending sev-
eral years as a clerk in his father's store, in a bank, and as
a partner in a commercial house in Buffalo, N. Y., he re-
moved to Keokuk, la., in 1851, where he established and
continued for years a successful banking business. On the
breaking out of the rebellion, he volunteered, was made
captain, and, because of his superior business abilities, was
placed in charge of army rail and river transportation at
St. Louis, a position which he filled vdth such eminent suc-
cess that he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Near the close of the war, he was made cashier of the State

164

Savings Associatiozi, now the State Bank of St. Louis, of
which he was elected president in 1870, making his entire
term of service in the bank to the present time, tliirty- three
years. The success of his administration is most conclu-
sively and concisely shown by the fact that for all these
years the bank has never failed to make a dividend of at
least five per cent, semi-annually, and for the last twenty-
three years has made one of eight per cent, semi-annually,
and has, in addition, accumulated during these thirty-three
years, a surplus of more than $1,100,000.

While amassing a reasonable fortune in his long and
active business life. Colonel Parsons has disbursed of his
income with liberality and a most catholic spirit, by aiding
charitable, religious, and educational institutions, at times
in large sums. Colonel Parsons*s remarkable success has
resulted not more from a natural taste for banking than
from his thorough study, accurate knowledge, and compre-
hensive views of the principles governing commercial and
financial affairs, combined with the liberal spirit with
which he ever meets and treats private and public inter-
ests. The high esteem in which he has been held in finan-
cial circles is shown by the fact that for twenty-two years
he was annually elected president of the St. Louis Clearing
House, was for some years president of the American Bank-
ers' Association, was selected to preside over the World's
Congress of Bankers and Financiers at the Chicago Ex-
position in 1893, and that his name has been often men-
tioned as a suitable candidate for Secretary of the Treas-
ury, and would, it is believed, have been pressed, but for
Colonel Parsons's own opposition thereto. In 1892, when
there was much public excitement in regard to city finances,
owing to a large defalcation, Colonel Parsons consented at
the solicitude of many prominent citizens, regardless of
party, to accept temporarily the position of City Treasurer,
which office he resigned as soon as full investigation could
be made, the books put in proper condition, and a new
treasurer elected. Colonel Parsons has been, and still is,
president and director in many railroads and other public
and charitable institutions, taking an active part and im-
pressing his own personality thereon. There are few men
who are more consulted or whose opinions upon public and
financial questions are held in as high esteem. Nor is Colo-
nel Parsons merely a business man. Possessing by nature
a refined taste, he has during his active life gathered one of
the most valuable collections of paintings and other works
of art in our country, obtained during repeated visits to
I Europe and in a trip around the world made in 1894-5, a

165

very interesting account of which last trip was published
in a Tolxime for private circulation, showing close and accu-
rate observation of men and affairs.

In politics, Colonel Parsons has been a strong Republican,
occupying a prominent position in party councils and con-
tributing liberally for the success thereof. He is also a
member of the societies of the Grand Army of the Republic,
the Loyal Legion, and the Army of the Tennessee.

Colonel Parsons was married in 1857 to Miss Martha
Pettus, a member of one of the old well-known families of
St. Louis. She died in 1889, leaving no children.

Extract from a speech by Colonel Parsons at the Cale-
donian Society dinner, in St. Louis, November 30, 1897.

" Perhaps, as I represent the New England Society this
evening, as its former president, you would like to hear
something of the Yankees and how they lived sixty and
more years ago, when I was a boy; in the changes that have
and are taking place nowadays, we are all getting to be
different from what we were; even the Japanese are put-
ting on breeches and coats and discarding their queues and
kiminos. More's the pity. They will become poor Euro-
peans and lose the originality and unique character, as well
as genuine art, they once possessed.

" Well, in my youth, among the Yankees in New England
and New York, people were mostly connected with some
church, and, generally, business ceased on Saturday night
at sundown. Everything ended save works of necessity
and mercy. The good orthodox people insisted that the
warrant for commencing Sabbath on Saturday night was
from the Bible, where it says: * The evening and the morn-
ing were the first day.' Our evenings of Saturdays were
spent in learning the Sabbath-school lessons, the catechism,
and singing. Ten o'clock Sunday morning was church
time, and all who were not ill or too old or too young went
to meeting, as it was called. We spoke not of the church
as a building, but of the meeting-house. Then came the
service; first, the invocation, the Bible reading, the singing,
the long prayer, another singing and the sermon, which
last was not, perhaps, as long as the Scotch ones; yet it did
not lack in that respect. Then Sabbath school of half an
hour, after which our lunch, and about one o'clock again
another service. The farmers took lunch in summer on
the grass around the house; but at other times in the house.
It was not customary formerly to have fires in the meeting-
house. It was thought best to keep warm by spiritual heat,
and the first introduction of stoves was, in many cases, op-
posed very strongly. In one instance, several ladies fainted

166

the first Sunday after the stoves were put up, but, to their
mortification, learned afterward that there were no fires
that day in them — ^a plain case for faith doctors.

The second Sabbath service was like the first, and at its
end we went home vnth the opportunity before us to come
again in the evening. Many people had only cold food on
the Sabbath. Occasionally some good people had a warm
supper, however, and mine were of that sort. When the
sun went down, all restraint was thrown off and the
solemnity and seriousness that for twenty-four hours had
marked every face was succeeded by gayety or great cheer-
fulness. It was said that even the dogs knew the difference
between Saturday and Sunday nights and showed it by
jumping and frisking on the latter, instead of lying quietly
around as on the former. Sunday was indeed a day of rest
for everything, and it was made more so by penal enact-
ments. Indeed, it was said that in Connecticut they
whipped the beer for working on Sunday. Travel was not
thought proper, except to go to meeting or for the doctor,
and as to any amusement, it was not to be tolerated or even
thought of. I am told that the same rule existed in Scot-
land formerly, and it may yet. The great infiux of foreign
continental population in New England has changed all
greatly there.

" In those old days every one worked who was old enough
to do so. The farmer rose at 5 a. m. and, after feeding and
watering his horses, cows, etc., ate the breakfast that his
industrious wife had prepared; he was then ready to go
out on his farm to work, or in winter perhaps out in the
forest chopping the trees, eating a cold lunch, perhaps of
salt pork, uncooked, with bread and cold potatoes. I have
seen them doing this, and they said that the fat pork with
a little vinegar was excellent; the best sauce was the appe-
tite. I have known these farmers to draw cord wood three
or even four miles to town and sell it for 75 cents a cord and
take their pay in goods at the store, and sometimes the
merchant who bought it would only give dry goods, as the
merchants then made greater profits on those than on
sugar, tea, etc. There was no eight-hour law then in town
or country; people worked early and late as long as they
could find anything to do, leaving time for eating, drinking,
and sleeping. Crime and criminals were not much known
in the country or country villages; no one had time to con-
coct villainy.

'' My father was a merchant, and as soon as his boys were
old enough we had our share of work, at first in weeding I
the gfarden, bringing in wood, later in cutting wood for the I

167

use of the house. I well remember my younger brother
and myself, he at eleven and I at thirteen years of age, cut^
ting in spring forty cords of four-foot wood in three parts,
splitting it fine, and piling high in the woodshed adjacent
to the house, so as to be convenient for the days when great
snows should fall and the thermometer g^t down to twenty
and forty degrees below zero, sometimes. Perhaps this
training is the reason why I am alive now at the age of sev-
enty-three. As a special encouragement, we got a note
drawing seven per cent, interest for such work at twenty-
five cents a cord. I remember collecting mine after it had
outlawed. Then a little later I learned to get up at 5
o'clock to go to the store, open it, sweep out, and light the
fire before breakfast, at 6 or 6.30. After an academic edu-
cation, I went off one November for a trip to the South, only
receiving from my father money to get away, and none to
return with. In nine or ten months I returned, bringing
home some $50 more than I took away with me, which I
handed my father; besides having traveled in three-fourths
of the United States and spending some time in Cincinnati,
Charleston, Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York, with
the ever pleasant memory of ten days in Washington in
1842, when John Tyler was President; Millard Fillmore at
the head of the Ways and Means Committee, in which
capacity he passed the tariff of 1842. One Saturday, then, 1
was kindly introduced on the floor of the House by a friend
of my father's, and also introduced personally to the Presi-
dent, Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun,
John Quincy Adams, and Francis Granger. I was telling the
above circumstance in my life to a friend, and he said it was
not right that I should have given this surplus over what I
received to my father; but it was the rule then that a boy's
services belonged to his father until he was at his majority,
and it was the almost universal custom for boys to work at
home until then, and I think it was right. I was only too
well pleased to get this leave of absence and to earn the
amount of my expenses, returning all I made over that.
Why should not a boy pay back by his labor some of the
cost of his rearing? In Japan it is deemed a religious duty
for a child to take care of the parents at a certain age, and
the rich and poor recognize it not as a labor, but pleasure,
and expect the retiring from trade of the parent, and all
care then to fall on the son. The care of parents was also
as customary in old times in Scotland.

If our youths were made to do more physical work in
youth, they would be stronger, healthier, and the better for
it. Our New England fathers lived well, only the food was |

168

plain. All through the country the bread was mainly made
of com and rye meal, mixed, and, while not quite so palata-
ble as wheat, yet without doubt it was more healthy; there
was plenty of beef and pork, mutton and chickens, apples
and other fruits, and honey, besides nuts in the woods, to
say nothing' of the turkey and supposed-to-be-unhealthy
pies. The New Englander then made no objection to all
sorts of fun and sport in reason — ^the husking bee, spelling
school, where all stood up to be spelled down by the most
capable; the town and baseball gtimes, skating, and sliding
on the ice; in fact, every athletic or proper indoor sport
that did not endanger life or limb. I don't belicTe they
would have tolerated the ball games we now have, where
there is constant danger to the players. Certainly our
Yankee forefathers were not the sad and morose people
some conceive them to have been. They had a rough time
in settling a new country, when there were no steamers or
railroads, when it was a six-days' journey from New Tork
to Boston by land, and life presented its serious side to
them. They feared God, and wished to do their duty and
get on in the world, and so educate their children that they
should do the same. They were not so anxious to get office,
either, then as now. One of my early ancestors in Spring-
field, Mass., petitioned the Town Meeting to be released
from all town offices for a year, and on payment of twenty
shillings his request was gpranted. He was not anxious to
be in the push, or in any sort of combine. My friends, in
many respects we have not improved on these people.'

»»

ADDENDA.

Note. — ^Families here represented are connected with Cornet Joseph
Parsons' descendants in the preceding pages by means of the numbers in
the right-hand column.

173

174

175
176

177
178
179

180

CHILDEEN OF PHILO PARSONS AND ELIZA

BAENUM PAESONS.

I. Frances Eliza Parsons, bom October 12, 1849, in
Moscow, N. Y. ; married, September 26, 1882, to Will-
iam Fitzhugh Edwards, of Virginia, son of Tryon Ed-
wards, D.D., and Catherine Haltus Hughes, his wife,
who died in New York City, October 27, 1897. No
children.

II. Lewis Baldwin Parsons, bom Angnst 7, 1851, in
Detroit; married to Harriet M. Streeter, of North
Adams, Mass., daughter of Emily J. Spears and Charles
Streeter. Three children :

1. Anna Helen Parsons, bom at North Adams, Mass.,
September 29, 1874.

2. Margaret Elwood Parsons, bom at North Adams,
Mass., January 4, 1876.

3. Josephine McKee Parsons, bom at Detroit, Mich.,
December 26, 1878.

HI. Edward Levi Parsons, bom at Detroit, April 3,
1853. Unmarried.

IV. Kate Eugenia Parsons, bom at Detroit, June
28, 1854 ; married, February 5, 1880, to Arthur Clifford,
son of John Henry Clifford and Sarah Allen, his wife,
of New Bedford, Mass. He died February 26, 1881.
One child :

1. Charles Parsons Clifford, bom at New Bedford,

Mass., October 23, 1880.

169

160

170

181
182

183

184

185
186

V. William Swain Parsons, bom June 6, 1856 ; died
August 6, 1857.

VI. Julia Norton Parsons, bom at Detroit, December
31, 1857 ; married, June 11, 1891, to William Edmund-
stone Boynton, of Winchester, Mass., son of William
Boynton and Sarah Morse, his wife. No children.

VII. Mary Lucina Parsons, born at Detroit, October
10, 1860 ; married, April 22, 1885, to Frederick Grout

Chidsey, of Detroit, son of Chidsey and Delia

Whalley Grout, his wife. Two children :

1. Frederick Parsons, bom at Detroit, March 11,
1880.

2. Helen Parsons, bom at Detroit, July 8, 1887.

VIII. Grace Douglas Parsons, bom at Detroit, Feb-
ruary 13, 1863. Unmarried.

187

188

189

190

191
192

DESCENDANTS OF CAPTAIN JOHN PAESONS
AND HIS WIFE SAEAH CLAEK PAESONS.

Lieutenant William Parsons, bom, 1690 ; died, 1768 ;
married, 1714, Mary Ashley, bom, 1661. Their son :

Lieutenant Samuel Parsons, born, 1733 ; died, 1812 ;
married, 1768, Lucy Pomeroy, born, 1739; died, 1782.
Their son :

Captain Luke Parsons, bom, 1774 ; died, 1852 ; mar-
ried, 1801, Nancy Streeter, bom, 1784; died, 1853.
Their daughter :

Lucy Mason Parsons, born, 1803 ; died, 1884 ; mar-
ried, 1831, Lewis Darling, M.D., bom, 1804; died,
1882. Their son :

Lewis Darling, Jr., M.D., bom, 1840 ; married, 1867,
Julia L. Day, born, 1843. Their son :

Carlos Parsons Darling, bom, 1876.

171

193

194

195

196

197

198

DESCENDANTS OF MOSES PARSONS AND
HIS WIPE ABIGAIL BALL PARSONS.

Moses Parsons, born Durham, Conn., October 19,
1710 ; died Windsor, Conn., 1791 ; married Elizabeth
Ventres, born Haddam, Conn., 1710; died Windsor,
Conn., May 10, 1790. Their daughter :

Abigail Parsons, born Windsor, Conn., April 28,
1747 ; died Windsor, Conn., November 7, 1817 ; mar-
ried, November 19, 1767, her cousin Lieutenant Thomas
Hayden, Continental Line, 1775-1783, born Windsor,
Conn., June 14, 1745 ; died Windsor, Conn., November
28, 1817. Their son :

Horace H. Hayden, M.D., born Windsor, Conn., Oc-
tober 13, 1769 ; died Baltimore, Md., January 26, 1844;
married February 23, 1805, Maria A. Robinson, bom
July 22, 1778 ; died March 28, 1860. Their son :

Edwin Parsons Hayden, Lawyer, born Baltimore, Md.,
August 7, 1811 ; died May 10, 1850 ; married Septem-
ber 15, 1832, Elizabeth Hause ; born August 23, 1810 ;
died July 3, 1887. Their son :

Rev. Horace Edwin Hayden, born Maryland, February
18, 1837 ; married November 30, 1868, Kate E. Byers.
P. E. Clergyman at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Their son :

Horace Edwin Hayden, Jr., born January 6, 1884.

INDEX

Panona, 83

Fanoiu, Abtoh, lOB, 1S4, 134, 138

Aaron lit, 131, 133, 135, ISl
AaroD 8d. " Revivkl Commiinioa-

tion," 138
Auon 5th, 147
SereeanbAATon, Ji., 133, 13G, 131,

Beiseant and DewNm Auon 3d,

133, 135, 137, 138
Sergeant. GIdei uid Jnatioe Aaxoa

4th, 138, 140, 143, 147
Abuail, 71, 74, 94, 111, 113, 133,

Abner, 138
Adu&,133
Pie^eot Albert Ron, S, 7G, SS,

103, 150
AUoe Inez, IIB
AlpheuB S., lia
AmbroiB, 94
Andrew, 66
AnnaGaerard, 118
Amu Helen, 169
Reverend Bartholomew, Bfl
Benjiiniin, T-i), 13, 14, 30, 26, 88,

43, 46, 73, IB, 79, SO, lOa, 1 11, 133
DeaooQ Benlamin, 5S, 6S, 76-77,

78, 81, 91, 94, 101, 105
Lieutenant Benjamin, 113
Keversnd BenjamiQ, 114
Beoittmin F., 116, 117
CKlTin, ISB

Blder Charlei Albert, 147
Cb>rle>, go, 161, 163
Oolonel Charlea, 16S, 163-168
Oaptun Charlea, 81, 137, 13S, 151
Captain Charlea Albert, 138, 139
Honorable Uharlei Algernon, in-

PanonB, Ceeil, 00
Chief Jaitiae, 101
Charlotte, 18S
Clifford, Uaior-GeneraL 98
Colonel, 90

Daniel, 74, 111, 119, ISO, 134
Captain Daniat, lOfl
Daniel, M.D., 100
Daniel, Jr., 130, 131, 133
Lieatenant Daniel Sd, 131
David, 74, 110
Reverend David, 111, 13T
Dorothy, 90
Elarl; emigranta, 103
Bbeneier, 74, 110, 113-115, 151

Charles Baldwin, 1G1
FrofesioT Charlea Lathrop, )

117, 118
Charlea Lathrop, Jr., 118
Blder Charlea, l41
Sir Charlea, 90

79,

Coptai

lii)

r, 111-113

Edward, 106, 116
Edward Levi, 169
Eli, 134
BUhn, US
Eliaa, 138

EUjah, 137, 138, 130
£Ua Tereaso, ISO
filiaabeth, 90, 111
BmUy, 147, 168
Bmil^ Stow, 147

Bnnioe, ISS, 133

First in New Bngland, 101

Franoea Bliza, 169

FranoiB, 106

Fiaaaii, viear, 96

Frederick, 170

George, 106, 158
Gideon, 133
Goodman, 17
Grace Donglaa, 110
Hanmer, 1®
Hannah, 71, 74, 110: 114
Harriet, 137
Harriet Eliia, UT
Harriet Matilda, 158
Harriet Sophronio, 150

174

Parsons, Helen, 116, 170
Helen Maria, 153
Henry, 104
Hereford, 100
Horaoe, 184
Horace Talbot, 150
Hosea, 134

Hugh, 8, 45, 75-80, 89. 91, 105
Sir Humphrey, Lora-Mayor, 91,

97, 100. 101
Isaac, 151
Ithamar, 109

James, Lieutenant-Greneral, 98
James, M.D., antiquariau, 97
Jeffrey, 78, 81, 90. 91, 94, 100, 101,

105
Captain Jehiel, 187
Captain Jehiel, death of, 145, 146
Jerusha, 114, 115
Jesuit. 96
Jo, 118
John, 7, 49, 63, 66, 68-71, 73, 87,

90, 91, 94, 104, 106, 109, 188,

141
John, of Boveny, 90
Captain John, 170
Lieutenant John, 111
John, Lord-Bishop, 98
Major-General John, 97
John, organist, 94
Reverend John, 100
Sir John, 81, 87, 88, 95, 100, 101
Sir John, Lord-Mayor, 96
John Edward, 150
Lieutenant -Colonel and Elder

John Jehiel, 134, 147-150
Jonathan, 68-71, 74, 110
Reverend Jonathan, 75, 76, 79, 91,

94 101
Joseph, 93, 103, 104, 106, 107, 118,

132,134
*« Worshipful Joseph," 108
Comet Joseph, 3-7, 9-18, 15, 16,

18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26-28, 32, 83,

85-37, 39, 40, 43-49, 52-54, 584)6,

68, 71-73, 76, 78, 80, 81, 86, 91,
92, 94, 101, 105-107, 119, 169

Judge and Captain Joseph, 17, 63,

69, 73, 74, 107, 108, 111, 123
Josephine MoKee, 169
Josiah, 111

Julia, 116

Julia Edwards, 163

Julia Norton, 170

Reverend Justin Sheldon, 114

Kate Burwell, 150

Kate Eugenia, 169

Lieutenant, 129

Lord Bishop, 90

Lord Laurence, 4th Earl of Bosse,

98
Sir Laurence, 90, 96
Sir Laurence, Treasurer of Ireland,

98
Lemuel, 132
Leonora Elizabeth, 108
Leonora F., 117

Parsons, Levi, 153
Judge Levi, 78, 79
Reverend Levi, 114
Lewis Baldwin, 151, 158. 169
Major-General Lewis b:ildwin, 3,

81, 101, 124, 151, 152, 1&5-163
Lewis GreeiL 163
Lucinda, 115
Lucretia, 114
Lucy, 125, 134, 151
Lucy Ann, 158
Lucy Mason, 170
Lucy Moreford, 151
Captain Luke, 170
Lydia, 113
Lyman, 115, 116
Margaret Elwood, 169
Mane Emihe, 150
Mark, 105
Sir Mark, 100
Marshall, 151

Mary, 8, 45-49, 66, 71-74, 110
MaryLuciua, 170
Mercy, 113, 114, 125
Mercy A., 130
Miriam, 122, 129
Morgan, 100
Moses, 74, 112, 138, 171
Moses, Jr., 171
Needham Thompson, Major-Gen^

eral, 98
Noah,112, 122
Octavia, 152
Patience, 184
Philip, 96, 104

Philip DenziU, Kt, SherifT, 96
Philo, 152-155, 169
Phcebe, 131
Priscilla Bartlett, 118
Pynchon, 93
Rachel, 118, 138
Rachel Preston, 145, 146
Ralph, 90
Rebecca, 114
Deacon Reuben, 125
Richard, 76, 91, 94, 105, 118
Sir Richard, 89, 99
Robert, 76, 105
Robert, Jesuit, 95
Robert, organist, 96
Robert, R^r Admiral, 96
Sir Robert, 90
Earl of Rosse, 99
Rosse, Lord, telescope, 98
Ruf us, 133
Samuel, 67, 68, 70, 71, 74-76, 94,

105, 118, 184
Lieutenant Samuel, 109, 123, 170
Major-General Samuel Hoiden, 76L

81, 101, 185
Sarah, 188
Sarah Edwards, 163
Shubael, 184
Silas, 113
Rev. Silas, 114
SUence, 180
Simeon, 113

175

Parsons, Solomon, 113-115
Sophia, 91
Sophia N., 116
Susannah, 114
Sylvester, 134
Theodore, 115
Judge Theophilus, 78
Prof. Theophilus, 101
Thomas, 9, 76, 76, 81, 93, 94, 104-

106, 118, 134
Sir Thomas, 79, 87, 88, 90, 91, 96,

100, 101
Thomasine, 94
Tryphosa, 117
Walter, 94, 95
Walter, Chamberlain, 151
Wealthy, 115
Willard, 114, 116
William, 90, 91, 104, 106
William Edward, Lord Oxman-

tOD, 98
Lieutenant William, 170
William Naramore, 1 17
WiUiam Swain, 170
Sir William, 78, 90, 91

Parsons, Sir William, Lord Lieutenant
and Justice, 96

Zebulon Stow, 147

Zenas, 125, 126, 134
Parsons, Arms of, 87, 88, 99-101
Parsons^ College, la., 152
Parsons' Hall, 154
Parsons, home of name, 85
Parsons^ Inn, 126
ParsoDsfield, Maine, 134
Parsonstown, 99
Parsons professorship, 154
Parsons scholarship, 78
Parsons* Tavern, 125
Parsons* wood, England, 96
Person, 44

Person, William le, 84
Persona, 83, 84
Persona, magnse, 83
Personse, dramatis, 83
Personati mercatores, 83
Personare, 83
Personatus, 83
Personne, Susanna, 84

William, 84

Abbott, John, 54

Joseph Adna, 125

Mary, 123
Adams, J. Q., 167
Albino, Isabel de, 144
Alexander, George, 58

John, 70
Alfred the Great, 144
Allen. John, 7

Greneral Robert, 158

Samuel, 70

Sarah, 169
Anderson, John, 151
Andre, execution of, 135
Anthonv, St., 82
Arundel, Earls of, 143
Ashley, D., 27

Joseph, 74, 110

Mary, 170
Aso^oa, 59
Aspmwall, 156
Atkinson, Dorcas, 128

John, 123

Mercy, 123, 125, 130
Averill, Asa, 149

John, 149

Samuel, sen., 149

Corporal Samuel, jr.. 149, 150

Sarah Volinda, 149, 150

William, 149
Awonusk, 57
Bacon, 156, 157
Baker, Timothy, 59. 70
Baldwin, Count, 143

Lucy, 127

Ball, Abigail, 171
Barbarossa, Frederick, 87
Barnard, 36
Barnes, Molly, 150
Bamum, Eliza, 169

fJliza Ann, 152, 153

Emily Lycett, 153
Barnwell, Sir John, 117
Bartlett, 112

John Chandler, 116

Leonora Francis, 116

Robert, 36, 49, 50, 52, 56

Samuel, 47, 70
Bascomb, 43

Thomas, 69
Basileus of Macedonia, 144
Bassus, Gavias, 83
Bedon, 117
Bedortha, Reice, 42
Beebe, David, 138
Bennet, Captain, 12t)
Bergen, Elizabeth M., 151
Beringer, King, 143
Bigod, Earls of Norfolk, 143

Joan, 143
Billings, 36

Ju^e Henry W., 156
Bissall, 8, 26
Black. 82
Blackstone, 84
Blake, Edward, 53

William, 5, 6
Bliss, 21. 41, 122

Abel, 123

Ann, 108

176

BUsB. Alexander, 138, 133

Calvin, 132

John, n, 34, 37, 43, 69

Lawrence, 11, 55

Margaret, 11, 12, 41, 61, 107, 108

Mary, 11, 107

Moses, 126, 132

Nathaniel, 11, 12, 120

Noah, 132

Samuel, 11, 132

Thomas, 11, 107, 108

Zadock, 132
Blott, 114

Boardman, Greorge B., 153
Boynton. WUliam, 170

William Edmandstone, 170
Branch, William, 19, 55
Brattle, Bethiah, 107
Breck, Eunice, 119
Brewer, 122
Bridgman, James, 8, 12, 14, 45-47

John, 70

Mary, 47

Sarah, 45, 46
Brooks, WilUam, 20, 21
Broughton, John, 69
Brown, 82
Brown, Lvdia, 104
Bryant, 115
Buckingham, Duke of, 92

Jed, 114
Bulkeley, Edward, 143

Bev. Dr. Edward, 143

Bev. Gershom, 143

Rev. Peter, 143

Robert, Lord of, 143

Sarah, 142, 143
Burgoyne, Greneral, 128
Burr, Aaron, 6

John, 5, 6
Burt, 122

David, 50

Mrs. David, 130

Deacon, 64

Lieutenant Gideon, 123, 132

Captain Gideon, 132

Henry, 14, 55, 74

HenryM.,3, 5, 77, 78, 107

Deacon Jonathan, 63-65
Butler, General, 151
By era, Kate E., 171

Cable, John, 5, 62, 63
Cadwell, Captain Daniel, 121

Eunice, 127
CsBsar, 83

Calhoun, J. C, 167
Callawane, 58
Camden, Britannia, 85

Remains, 86
Camden, Earl, 97
Capet, Hugh, 144
Carpenter, 82
Cass, General Lewis, 154
Chapin, Abner, 129

Captain Enoch, 129

Luke, 126

Chamn, Samuel, 14

Deacon, 36

Deacon Samuel, 55
Chapman, Robert, 108
Charlemagne, 143
Charles, King, 143
Charles L, 91,92
Charles IL, 90
Charles v., 89
Charles the Bald, 143
Chauncey, Rev. Charles, 143
.Chauncey de, 143

Sarah, 143

Sir William, 143
Cheney, 114

Chester, Col. Jos. Lemuel, 8, 75-Sl, 94
Chickwallop, 86
Chidsev, Frederick Grout, 170
Cicero, 83
Clapp, 114

Roger, 109
Clare, Maud de, 144

Isabella de, 143

Richard de, 143, 144
Clar^ Mary, 74, 110

Nathaniel, 74, 110

WiUiam, 17
Clarke, Mr. Dan, 38

Mrs., 73

John, 13, 70

Sarah, 59, 109

Lieutenant William, 45, 49, 50, 56,
58, 59, 72, 109
Cleason, Matthew, 70
Cleveland, President, 155
CUflford, Arthur, 169

Charles Parsons, 169

John Henry, 169
Clinton, Sir Henry, 127
Cockayne, Gkorge E., 80
CoUey, 119
Colly, 119
Colton. George, 12, 14, 43

John, 74^ 111
Conant, Eumce, 110

Shubael, 110
Cone, Charles S., 153
Cook, Captain, 70

Major Aaron, 109

Aaron, 123

Elizabeth, 109
Cooke, Dr., 97
Cooley family, 119
Cooley, 132

Abigail, 111, 119, 130

Benjamin, 12-14, 43

Ensign, 42

Ensign Benjamin, 119

Rev. EUP., D.D., 119

Lieutenant Joseph, 119

Obadiah, 121

Sir Richard, 119

Sarah, 119

Prof. Williams., 119
Cooper, 31

Fenimore, 137

Ensign Thomas, 50

177

Cooper, Thomas, 55

iiientenant Thomas, 62, 73

Timothy, 61. 63, 72
Copley, ThoB.. 42, 68, 60
Comwallj Earl of, 87
ComwaUis, Creneral, 127
Cowley 119

Cromwell, Oliver, 90, 96, 107, 126
CunUff, Henry, 69
Cartis, Greneral, 157

Grace, 139
Cutler, Esquire, 90

Dana, Charles A., 162

Daniels, Professor Joseph L., 153

Dante, 81

Darling, Carlos Parsons, 170

Doctor Lewis, 170

Doctor Lewis, Jr., 170
Darrah, Elizabeth, 163
Davenport, Ormus de, 143
Davis, 19, 157

Judge David, 158
Day, Julia L., 170
Day, Luke, 180

Thomas, 64
Dayharsh, John, 138
Despencer, 142
De Veaux, 117
Dickinson, Nathaniel, 50
Dickson, 82
Dieshau, Baron, 124
DisraeU, 96
Douglas, S. A., 160
Downing, Abi^il, 142, 143

Reverend Doctor, 143

George, 143

Sir Jeffrey, 143
Dudley, Governor, 108

Governor Joseph, 127

Governor Thomas, 126, 127

Mercy, 126
Dumbleton, 87

John, 42, 55, 64, 66
Duncan, King, 143
Du Prel, 102
Dwight, Captain Henry, 119

Jonathan, 126

President, 17

Professor, 103

Ebers, Professor George, 144

Edward L, King, 86, 91, 144

Edward it, 96

Edward IV., 82, 86

Edwards, Alexander, 12, 36, 44, 55, 70

Lyman, 21

MindweU, 112

Sarah Green, 163

Reverend Tnron, D.D., 169

William Pitzhugh, 169
Eliot, Reverend Jolm, 49

Reverend Joseph, 49, 50
Elizabeth, Queen. 90, 96
Elmer, Edward, 17, 36, 44
Ely, Nathaniel, 42

Reverend Samuel, 129, 180

Endicott, 92
Everett, Richard, 7

Fellows, Richard, 12, 36

FergxiB I, King, 143, 144

Ferris, Mary, 147

Ferry, Charles, 122

Ff eild, 40

PUlmore, President Millard, 189, 140,

141, 167
Fitch, Mr., 35.38

Mr. Joseph, 69
Fitz-Allen, Edmund, 143

Eleanor, 143

Sir John, 143

Richard, 143
Flanders, Counts of, 143
Ford, 119

Abigail, 107, 109

Thomas, 109
Freia, 144

Fremont, General, 157
French, Mary, 112

Octavia, 116
Fry. Captain Daniel, 185

Gage, Genera], 122
Gamage, G. A., 145
Gates, General, 128
Gellins, 83
Gibson, Bishop, 85
Giffbrd, Margery, 143, 144
Gilbert, John, 26

Jonathan, 37
Glover, 119

Mr., 42

Reverend Mr., 64, 110, 111

Mr.'Peletiah,61

Reverend Peletiah, 63, 110

Peletiah, Jr., 64, 74

Samuel, 122
Godfrey of Boidllon, 87

of Jerusalem, 87
Goffe,109,123
Groodall, Kichard, 53
Goodman, widow, 70
Goodwin, Mr., 32, 33, 36
Gousell, Elizabeth, 143

Sir Robert, 143
Granger, Francis, 167

Margaret, 125
Grant, Delia Whalley, 170

Noah, 124

General U. S., 124, 158, 169
Graves, Elnathan, 110

Emily, 110

Pansy, 129
Gray, 82

Greenleaf, Professor, 156
Gregory, JPope, 82
Griffith, heiress, 108
Griswold, Edward, 111

Mr. Edward, 119

Francis, 111, 119

George, 119

Mary, 119

Matthew, 111

178

Guerard, 117
Gun, Tho., 18

Hackleton, Pfra, 37

Halleck, Major-Gcneral, 155, 157

HanchUt, G., 70

Hancock, AbeL 128

Wm., 133
Hannum, John, 70

Wm., 46
Harrison, 82
HastingB, Benjamin, 74
Hanse, Elizabeth, 171
Hayden, Edwin Parsons, 171

Dr. Horace H., 171

Horace Edwin, Jr., 171

Rev. Horace Edwin, 171

Lieatenant Thomas, 171
Ha3rnes, Mary, 184
Hay ward, 82
Hendrick, Chief, 124
Hendricks. Peter, 51
Henry I., king, 144
Henry I. of France, 144
Henry IL, king, 144
Henry HL, king, 87, 99, 144
Henry the Fowler, king, 144 ,
Hinsdale, Robert, 114

Samuel, 114
Hinton, Beniamin, 62
Hitchcock, John, 42, 124

John, Jr., 64, 66, 121

Deacon John, 129

Captain Luke, 124
Hoar, Hon. George F., 152

Lucina, 151
Holcomb, 20
Holmes, Emily Parsons, 135

Colonel Joseph W., 147
Holt, 157
Holton, 80, 33, 114

Dr, David P., 78, 79, 82, 93, 109

F. 184
'' Mrs. Frances, 107

John, 70

William 44, 49

Deacon William, 45, 56
Holyoke, Mr., 38, 46

ElizuT, 14, 45, 55, 62, 68

John, 61, 62, 64
Homans, Shepard, 148
Hone, Bartholomew, 98

John, 98

Thomas, 98

William, 93
Hooker, 5
Horshford, Mr., 20
Horton, Benjamin, Jr., 122

Thomas, 7
Howard, 33, 82, 115
Howe, Eunice, 110
Hubbard, M. N., 116
Hughes, Catherine Haltus, 169
Hugo, Victor, 96
Humphreys, Arabella, 90

Capttun David, 81

Sir Marmaduke, 90
Hyde, Bev., 142

Ingersoll, John, 53

Jackson, President, 131
James, 153

Janes, William, 55, 58
Japhet, 143
Jeffrey, 90

Jennings, Eunice, 127
Jo-John, 118
Joan of Acres, 144
John-Jo, 118
John, king, 143, 144
John, Kn^hts of St.. 88
Johnson, 114

General, 124

James M., 148

John, 180
Jones, 122
Joy, Cyrus, 115
Judd,57

Deacon, 69
Judith, princess, 144

Kellogg, Joseph, 10
Kent, Captain Elihu, 132
Kiddermmster, Elizabeth, 90

Sir John, 90
King. Asaph, 130

John, 38, 51, 56-57

Sergeant John, 43
Kinsley, 112

Moses, 113
Kisquando, 59

Lacy, Sir Geoffrey, 90

Lafayette, General, 127, 130, 187, 188,

144, 145
Langdon, Captain Paul, 128
Langton, George, 12

John, 69
Lathrop, 148

Lucy Ann, 116
Lee, General R. E., 158

' Walter, 70
Leete, Abigail, 127

Governor William, 127
Leonard, Sarah Heald, 105
Lewis, Mrs., 77

Mary, 105
Lincoln, President, 155, 158, 159
Lonsdale, 82
Ludlow, Roger, 109
Lyman, 31, 39

Mr. 125

Artnur, 44

Francis, 115

Ensign John, 48, 56

John, 57, 69

Richard, 44, 70
Lyon, Cyrus, 114

Macbeth, 144

Mackenzie, 139

Magog, 148

Marsh, Joseph W., 148

Marshall, George W., 78, 80

Rev. Leon P., 147
* Earl William, 143

179

Marshfidd, Samuel, 55, 63, 65
Mashepetot, 58, 59
Mason, 82

John, 109

Thomas, 49, 56
Mather, Rev. Mr. Eleazer, 49, 109

Rev. Richard, 49
Matthew, Greoffrey, 78

Colonel Abednego, 78, 91
Matthew of Paris, 8o
Maud of Flanders, 143, 144
Maverick, Rev. John, 109
May, Colonel Nehemiah, 114
Maynard, Lord, 84

Sir Henrv, 84
McClellan, Major-General George B.,

156
McClemand, Greneral, 158
McMorrougb, Dermot, king, 143

Eva, 143
Meneptaii, 143
Merrickr21, 122, 132

Dr., 128

Elizabeth, 126

Thomas, 7, 13
Meyerbeer, 144
MilesiuB of Spain. 143
Miller, Thomas, 41

William, 70
Mirick, 19, 36

Rev. Mr., 120

Rev. Noah, 121

Thomas, 55

Thomas 2d, 123
Mitchell, Matthew, 5, 6
Monmouth, Duke of, 106
Monroe, President, 126
Montacute (Montague) family, 143

Drogo de, 143
Montague, Abigail, 142

John, 142

Peter, 143

Richard, 142

Robert, 143

WilUam, 143
Moore, Harriet, 110
Moreford, Mary, 151
Morgan, 38

D.,68

Isaac, 126

Miles, 15
Morris, Edward, 122

Isaac, 122
Morse, Sarah, 170
Morton, Reverend Daniel Oliver, 114

Honorable Levi Parsons, 114
Moxom, Mr., 20
Moxon, 46

Reverend George, 62, 63

Reverend Mr., 64
Mudge, Micah, 58
Muller, F. Max, 83, 102
Murray, Colonel Seth, 130

Nallahamoomgon, 59
Naramore, Alpheus, 115
Frank, 115

Naramore, Tryphosa, 115

Natanas, 59

Nixon, Colonel, 135

Noble, ThoR., 34

Norton, 82

Nowntagues, 58

Noyes, Reverend James, 126

Old, Robert, 47
Olds, Zardus, 134
Orry, king, 143
Oxford, Earls of, 43
Oxmanton, Baron, 99

Packard, Joshua^ 115

Lucinda, 115

Samuel, 115
Pacqualante, 58

Page , 156

Pampatekemo, 59
Parker, Annie, 126

Thomas, 126
Parthian royalty, 144
Partridge, Colonel, 108, 119

Samuel, 71
Paulk, Cyrus, 133

Sarah, 134
Payson, Hannah, 110

Deacon Joshua, 110
Pembroke, earls of, 143
Perseus 144
Pettus, *Martha, 153, 165
Pharaoh, 143
PhiUp n., 95
Pindar, 98
Pitcaim, Major, 122
Plantagenet, Lady Eleanor, 143

Hamelin, 143

Kings,143
Pomeroy, Lucy, 170

Lydia, 110

Medad, 36, 45, 61, 57
Porter, John, 19

General P. B., U. S. Secretary of
War, 137, 140

Samuel, 51
Preston fainily, 140

Asa, 134

John, Sr., 134

John, Jr., 134

Rachel, 133, 134, 137, 138

Roger, 135

Samuel, 135
Prichard, Bioger, 12
Putnam, Greneral Rufus, 130, 135
Pynchon, 91, 111, 119, 132

Amy, 62

Captain, 126

Major, 47. 48, 64, 73

Colonel Charles, 128

Mr.,46

Sir Edward, 85, 98

John, 10, 14-18, 42, 45, 54, 56, 57,
58, 60-63, 65, 71, 72

Captain John, 107

Colonel John, 91, 93

Major John, 76, 77, 79

180

Pynchon, William, 5-8, 10, 12, 13, 45,
62, 63, 85, 90, 91, 93, 94, 104,
105,136
Parsons, 98

Rameses IL, 143
Raymond, Henry J., 161
Revere, Paul, 122
Richard, Coeur de Lion, 87
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, 87, 88
RUey. Nathaniel, 142

Rosetta, 142
Robert the Devil, 144
Robert of Normandy, 87
Robertson, Alice, 118

Alice Douglas, 117

AnnaGuorard, 117

Lieatenant-General James, 117

James Douglas. 117

Experience, 123, 131

Reverend John, 93, 104
Robinson, Maria A., 171

Colonel Timothy, 131
Rochambean, 127
Root, Joseph. 69, 70
Roote, Josepn, 44

Thomas, 44
Ross, Earls of, 85, 89
Rosse, Earls of. 81, 89, 90, 94

Viscount, 99

Lord, telescope, 99
Rurik, Prince, 1^
Russell, Reverend Doctor, 133

Salisbury, Earls of, 143

Sanderson, Jeduthon, 133

Saunders, English, 90

Savage, Diet., 78, 104, 105

Schiller, 98

Schofield, General. 159, 161

Scota, Pnnce8s^43

Scott, General Winfield, 138, 139

Screvens, 117

Seward, Captain Thomas, 129

W. H., U. S. Secretary, 140
Shaw, Captain James, 128
Shays, Captain Daniel, 130, 131
Sheldon, 58, 59

Benjamin, 114

Isaac, 69, 70 114

Rebecca, 113
Sheldon's Suffield, 108
Shepard, General, 125, 131
Shepherd, 82
Sheridan, Lieutenant -Greneral Phil,

125, 157, 162
Sherman, General W. T., 125, 158, 159
Sikes, Abner, 125

Reuben, 126
Smead, Wm., 41
Smith, 82

Christopher, 69

Henry, 5-7, 60. 62, 74

John, 51

Captain John, 103

Reverend Joseph, 74, HI

PhiUip, 10

Smith, Thomas, 117

Souanaett, 59

Spears, Emilv j., 169

Spencer, English noble family, 142

Garrard, 143

Hannah, 142
Squeb, Captain, 109
Squomp, 57
Stanley, 97

Dean, 75
Stanton, E. M.. 157-159, 161, 162
Stapleton, Barton Bree, 91
Stebbins, Anne, 110

Benoni, 55

TTflTITII^b 110

John, 1^, 36, 44, 49, 50, 70, 112

Mercy, 112, 113

Nenoenie, 69

Noah, 1^

Lieutenant Noah, 130

Colonel Phineas, 130

Rowland, 15

Reverend Doctor Rufus P., 131

Samuel, 112

Reverend Stephen Williams, 110

Thomas, 14, 15, 20, 110

Thomas, Jr., 41
Sterling, Erastus, 152
Stems, Doctor John, 129, 130
Stewart. John, 31
Stiles, John, 134
Stone, Amos, 116
Storrs, Reverend John, 110

Reverend Richard Salter, St., Jr.,
and 3d, 110
Story, Justice, 156
Stoughton,. Israel, 109
Stow, Emily. Egyptian toyal anoestiy,
138, 143

John, 142

Joseph, 143

Thomas, 143

Captain Zebuion, 143

Elder Zebuion, 143
Street, Eunicia, 110

Reverend Nicholas, 110
Streeter, Charles, 169

Harriet M., 169

Nancy, 170
Strong, 114

Meaner, 108

Elizabeth, 107-109, 111

Elder John, 107-109

Judge, 156

Mary, 114

Newton D., 156

Sarah, 110
"Strongbow,"143
Stuart, Lady Arabella, 96
Sydney, Sir Philip, 95

Taylor, James, 39

Jonathan, 12

President Zachaiy, 188

Rhoda,109
Terry, Greneral, 151
Thaylor, Faithful, 7

181

Thomas. 20, 25

O. P. S., 148
Thomson, 82
Thwaite, 108
Taton, Peter, 72
Tom, Bide and Harry, 82
Tomson^jrhomas, 12
Towne, Deliverance, 134
Townes, John, 7
Tromball, Judge Lyman, 155
Turner, Praysever, 58
Tyler, President, 167
Tyng, 87

Ufibrd, Thomas, 5, 6
Upham, Sally, 134

Van Buren, President, 187
Van Schaick, Colonel, 127
Ventres, Elizabeth, 171
Veres, de. Earls of Oxford, 143
Vermandoise, Elizabeth, 148
Vinson, Sarah, 105
Vose, Sarah, 105

Wagner, Richard, 144
Warham, Rev. John, 109
Warner, Samuel, 128
Warren, Lady Alice, 143

Isabella de, 148

John, EarL 143

William de, 148

& Surrey, Earls of, 143
Warriner, 20

Benjamin, 182

Captain, 126

Eunice, 132, 188

Captain James, 122

James, 123

Deacon Nathaniel 121

Noah, 128

William, 55, 122
Washbume, E. B, 158
Washington, General, 125, 127, 180,

181, 187
Waterman, Carrie, 117
Webb, John, 16. 42. 53
Webster, Daniel, 167

John, 54
Wedgewood, 82
Weitzel, General, 151
WeUesley, Arthur, 119

Gkirret, Viscount, 119
Wellington, Duke of, 119
Wells, William, 116

Welton, Eliza, 147

Richard, 147
Wequagon, 57
WhaUey, 109, 123
Wheelwright, Eliza, 106
White, 82

Mercy, 116

Captain William, 115
Whitney, Josiah Dwight, 110

Prof. Josiah Dwight, Jr., 110

Proi William Dvnght, 110
Wickliffe, reformer, 127
Wieland, 98

William, Conqueror, 87, 89, 142-144
William Leo, king, 148, 144
Williams, Mr., 67, 69

Adjutant-Greneral, 125

Colonel. 126

Arthur, 44, 55

Rev. Eleazer, 110

Colonel Ephraim, 124

Harriet, 137

Captain William, 113
WilUston, John, 60

Joseph, 74, 110

Joseph, Jr., 110

Rev. Noah, 110

Rev. Pay son, 110

Hon. Samuel, 110

Sarah, 110
Wilton, Ensign, 49

Lieutenant David, 45, 56

David, 67

Ensign, 89
Wingfield, Elizabeth, 143

Sir John, 143, 144

Sir Robert, 148

Thomas, 148
Winslow, Captain P. S., 160
Winthrop, 6
Wolcott, Henry, 109
Wood, Edmund, 5, 6
Woodbridge, Isabel, 125, 126

Rev. John, 126, 127

Judge Joseph, 126

Sylvester, 134
Woodford, 114
Woodhull, Rev. Nathan, 110

Sarah Strong, 110
Woodward. 114

John, 69
Wotan, 144
Wright, 114

Samuel, 43, 44, 56, 69, 70
Wurdeman, William, 151
Wuttowhan, 58

182

III

MISCELLANEOUS

Act of Uniformity, 126
Amherst College, 110
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com-
pany, 107
Anderson's royal genealogies, 144
Armour, coat, 99
Arms, Parsons, 87
Army of Tennessee, 155, 165

Bacon Academy, 116
Balliol Ck>llege. England, 95
Barons, crusaoing, 87
Bartholomew Act, 126
Batchelor's Bridge, 50
Battle Abbey roll, 143
Begbrook House, 100
Benedick, 98
Bennington Alarm, 128
Boston Alajrm, 132
Brimfield, History, 108
Britannia, Camden's, 85
Buffalo Comntercial Advertiser^ 147,
148

Caledonian Society Dames, 165

Camp of Instruction, Indianapolis, 149

Canadian rebellion, 139

" Caroline," 139

Carriages, private, 127

CeUbacy, 82

Chapel Aoval, 96

Chauncey Memorial, 144

Chicago Columbian Exposition, 164

Clark, mioted, 119

Clark's J^orthampton, 108

CoU^e of Arms, Liondon, 80

Columbia Building Loan Association,

New York, 148, 149
Congress, United States, 129, 160
Congress, Continental, 127
Connecticut Evangelical Magazine^ 186
Connecticut river colony, 76
Constitution United States, 131
Continental money, 125
Cornwallis's surrender, 127
Cothren, *' Woodbury," 149
Crest, %\a

Cross, banner of, 87
Crusades, 87-89
Crusading Barons, 87

Debtor judgments, 126, 129
Democratic party, 155, 160
Democrats, 140
Detroit Board of Trade, 153
De Vauz College, 148
Dignitas, 83

" Diligent," 115
Dorchester, History, 109

Egyptian descent, 144
English, 116

English military authorities, 159
EzoduB, the, 143

Farmers, New England, 166
"Fifth Monarchy," 104
First Congregational Church, Detroit,
155

Fort River. 51
France, Alliance with, 127
Frank kingdom. Palestine, 87
French and Indian War, 113, 115
French military authorities, 159

Gibbon, Memoir, 102

Goethe, 98

Goodman, 17

Grand Army of Republic, 155, 165

Green's History of Sprii^eld, 82, 93,

126, 131, 132
Guildhall, 93
^upP7i Home of English Names, 85

Hal, Prince, 97
Hall ancestry, 75-77
Harvard College, 110, 111, 127, 143,
155 156
Law ^hool 155, 156
Haydn, Diet, 82
Heraldic bearings, 99
Heraldic symboUsm, 87
Herald's College, London, 78
Herald's visitations, 86
Hessians, 138
Histon

lans. 195

>rv falsified, 161, 162

Sepulchre, 88

Holy Bepuici
HospitaUers, 88

Illinois Soldiers' Home, 155
Indianapolis Daily Sentinei
Indian Deed, Northampton, 107

Indianapolis Daily Sentinel^ 148
~Tortnampton,
Springfield, 106^ 118

Indian War, 1862, 157
Innkeepers, 119, 125

Japanese, 165
Japhet, remains of, 97
Jenersonian Democrats, 160
Jerusalem, king of, 87

Knights, 99

183

Landgraves, 117

Leicester's Commonwealth, 95

Leinster, last king of , 143

Leopard's head, 87

Lexington fight, 122, 128

** Lohengrin," 144

Lombardy, kings of, 144

Lord Mayors^ 91

Louisbnrgj siege of, 113

Loyal Legion, 155, 165

MaLmesbory, Abbey of, 84

Malta, Knights of, 89

" Mary and John,^' 109, 126

Marygold, 104

Massachusetts Creneral Court, 108

Bay Colony, 61, 118

Bay Company, 92
"Mayflower,'^ 93, 116
Michigan A^icultural Society, 154

University, 154
Minnte Men, 122
Monooacy, Md. , battle of, 147
" Much Ado about Nothing," 98
Mysticism, Philosophy of, 102

Narragansett Expedition, 113
National Board of Trade, 154
New England Greneral Register, 85
New Hampshire College, 79, 117

Experiment Station, 117
New Haven Colony, 105
New York Historical Society. 150
New York, Royal Governor or, 117
New York Times^ 161
Nibelung's Ring, 144
Nice, Council, g2
Northampton Antiquities, 108

O'Hart's Pedi^ees, 143
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, 156
Olivet College, Michigan, 158, 154
Oxford University, 97

PaUsado plot, 104
Paper money, 129
Parliament, 90
Parsifal, 150
Patriot War, 138
Pa3n^im foes, 88
Pequot war, 104
Philip, King, war of, 113
Pilgrims, 88, 103

Church of, Brooklyn, 110
Placentia, Council of, 82
Plymouth Colony, 109
Potatoes, first, 108
Protestant uprising, 106
Provident Savings Life ABSOciation,

149 ,
Province hills, 112
Puritans, 103-104
Pyramid, New Light from, 150
Pyramids, 143

Railroad and River TranspK>rtation,

United States of America, 157
Ram labraiy, 154

Rebellion Records, 159, 161
Rebellion War, 151
Republican party, 160, 165
Revolution, 117

Revolutionary War, 113, 115, 149
Rhode Island, battle of, 135
Rhode Island troops, 133
Rivulet Ferry. 104
Roman Ghurcn, 88

Sabbath Observance, 165-166
Sanitary Supply Company, New York,

148
Saratoga, surrender at, 128
Saturday night, 165
Seneca Parmer^ 145
Settler's life, 143
Shay's RebeUion, 128-131
Sheriff, 96
Slavery, 140
Soldier, the private, 125
South Berkshire Institute, 116
Springfield, Mass., history, 131
Stage-wagons, 127
Star Chamber, 84
State Bank of St. Louis, 164
St. John, Knights of, 89
"St. John7MS5
Stoves in church, 165
Suffield acts, 108
Sufi^olk deeds, 105
Super Arabia, kings of, 144
Surnames, 82
Synthetic Method for PianofortOi

150

Templars, 88

** Transport," 104

Trent, Council of, 82

Turbinia, boat, 98, 99

Turnips, 108

Twenty-third Army Corps, 162

Union College, 78

United States Supreme Court, 156

Wabash Railroad, 153
War of 1812, 149
Waterloo, battle of, 117
Westminster Abbey, 94, 96, 97
Whigs 139, 140

" Conscience," 140

" Cotton," 140

"Seward," 140

'^Silver Gray," 140

•* Snuff Taker," 140

'* Woolly Head," 140
Wilbraham, Mass., Centennial, 132
WiUiams CoUege, 116, 124
Williston Seminary, 110
Words, biographies of, 84
Worthy, heraldry, 99

Yale CoUege, 110, 127, 155, 168
Yankee Doodle, 132
Yankees, 165
Yorktown Centennial, 154

184

IV.

INDEX OF PLACES

AoiiB, 87

Agawam, Maas., 5, 13

AlbanyrN. Y., 63

Alexandria;. Egypt, 114

Alleghany MouDtainSf 157, 159

Alphington, 71, 78, 81, 90, 91, 105

Alton, III, 156

Amenoa, 118

Amherst, ISO, 137

Andover, Mass.. 126, 134

Antigaa, Barbaaoea, 106

Antwerp, 95

Aqnitania, 144

Anbom, N. Y., 138, 145

Arkanaaa Post, 158

Barbadoes, 81, 93, 94. 100, 101, 106

Bay Path, 51

Bay Road, 122, 130

Beech Ridge, N. Y., 147

Belstone Parish, England, 11

Bideford, 91

Bloody Brook, 112, 114

Bluffton, S. C, 117

Boston, Mass., 4, 5, 24, 41, 42, 45, 48,
49, 51, 52, 64, 67, 71, 78, 86, 91,
104, 106-110, 122, 127, 168

BoniUon, 87

Boveny, 90

Bow Street, 97

Boxford, Mass., 234

Braintree, Mass., 107, 110

Bridgewater, 95

Brimfield, Mass., 151

Brookfield, 51, 111, 130

Brooklyn, N. Y., 110

Brooghton^s Meadow, Biass., 60

Buckingham, 100

Buffalo, N. Y., 148-150, 163

Bunker HiU, 130, 133

Caernarvon, Wales, 108

Cairo, 88

Cambridge, England, 86

Cambridge, Mass., 133

Canaan, N. Y., 133-136, 188-141, 147

Canada, 138, 151

Capawonk, 57

Caribbee Isles, 106

Cayuga County, N. Y., 189

Charleston, S. C, 151, 167

Charlestown, Mass., 92, 122, 188

Chattanooga, 158

Chesapeake Bay, 162

Chesterfield Gore, 113

Chicopee, Mass., 119, 124
Cincinnati, O. , 167
Cod, Cape, 103
Colchester, Conn. , 116
Colchester. England, 93
Concord, Mass., 122, 133, 160
Connecticut, 5, 56, 111, 166
Connecticut River, 6, 7, 18, 43, 56-58.

60. 123, 132
Connecticut River Falls, 50
Connecticut Valley, 3, 10, 14, 18, 55
Cornwall, England, 86
Ciown Point, 123. 124
Cuddin^n, England, 87
Curtisville, Mass., 139
Cyprus Isle, 139

Damascus, 88

Dedham, Mass., 104

Deerfidd, Mass., 112, 114

Delaware River, IC^

Delft Haven, 103

Denmark, 143

Denver, Col, 163

Detroit, Mich., 151-154, 169, 170

Devonshire, 11, 78, 79, 81, 86, 90, 91.

94, 105
Dorchester, England, 114
Dorchester, Mass., 6, 49, 109
Dorset, England, 85
Dublin, 97
Durham. Conn., 74
Durham, N. H., 8, 117, 118
Dutch colony, 10

East Bridgewater, Mass., 115
Easthampton. Mass., 43, 50, 76, 94,

East Northport, L. L, 147, 148

Eastport, Miss., 159

Egypt, 82, 114, 143

England, 9, 11-13, 16, 31, 49, 62, 75-

77, 82, 87, 165, HI, 115
South, 85, 86
Epsom. 100
Essex Counl7, England, 86, 89, 92-94,

104,1(J6,112
Europe, 88, 156, 160
Bwing, N. J., 119
Exeter, 75, 78, 90, 91

Fairfield, Conn., 6
Five Mile Pond, 123
Flora, m, 8, 160
Franklin, Ind., 148

185

Garrisons, N. Y., 135
Genesee Cfounty, N. Y., 152, 165
Geneva, K Y., 137
Germany, 151
GlensFaUs, N. Y, 124
Gloucester, 86, 100, 101
Glonoester, Mass., 9, 91, 94, 101, 105
Goshen, Mass., 113, 115, 116
Gouvemeur, N. Y.. 152, 153, 165, 163
Gowanda, N. Y..149
Grayesend, England, 104
Great Harrington, ISO
Great Britain, 128, 129, 139
Great Milton, England, 75, 93, 96
Great River, 58, 59, 61, 123
Green Mountains, 120
Guilford Court House, 127

Haddam, Conn., 68
Hadley, Conn., 109
Hadley, Mass., 10, 50, 51, 54, 56-^

68, 111. 128
South, 50
Hampshire County, Mass., 48, 54, 59,

61^ 65, 78, 131
Hampshire, England, 85, 86
Hampton County, Mass., 108
Hanover, N. H., 118
Hart, Mich., 188
Hartford, Conn., 5, 11, 12, 16, 31, 36,

62, 56, 65, 74, 76, 94, 107, 126
Harwinton, Conn., 134
Hatfield, Mass., 56, 67, 129, 130
Haverhill, Mass., 185
HawMnsville, Ga., 116, 117
Heidelberg, Germany, 154
Hemmerton Court, England, 101
Hereford, England, 81, 86-91, 94
Hertford, England, 86
Hingham, Mass., 109, 116
Hockanum, 57
Holland, 104
Holy Land, 87
Holyoke, Mass., 59, 60
Holyoke, Mount, 120
Homer, N. Y., 151, 158, 163
Hopkinton, Mass., 116
Hudson River, 10, 103, 137

Illinois, 155, 160
Indianapolis, Ind., 148, 150
Ipswich, Mass., 135, 149
Ireland, 89, 90, 95, 96
Isle of Wight, 126
Italy, 96, 143

Jaffa, 88
Japan, 167
Jerusalem, 87, 88

Kennebec River, 105
Kent, England, 86
Keokuk, la., 163
Killingworth. 127
Kinderhook, N. Y, 187 '

Lake G^rge, battle of, 124

Langley, England, 100

Lee, Mass., 141

Leeward Lues, 106

Lexington, Mass., 132

Leyden, 93, 104

Little Rainbow, 43

Lockport, N. Y., 147

Logansport, Ind., 148

London, England. 76, 78, 91, 94, 100,

106. 109, 135
Longmeadow, Mass., 11, 13, 61, 105,

110, 119
Ludlow, Mass^ 131
Lyme Regis, England, 119
Lynn, Conn., 76, 106

Macedonia, 144
Maine, 105
Malta, 89
Man, Isle of, 143
Manhan River, 43
Mansfield, Conn., 110
Marden, England, 100
Marlboro, New, Mass., 116
Marshfield, 114
Martinico, 75

Massachusetts, 66, 108, 121, 125, 131,
140

Fort, 113

towns, 3
Medfield, Mass., 104
Memphis, 88
Mexico, Golf of, 157
Michigan, 10
Middlesex Coanty, 97
Middletown, Conn., Ill

Mass., 120

N. J., 15
Milford, Conn., 122
MiU River, 43, 60
Minhan, 83
Mississippi, 166

River,167
Mohawk Valley, N. Y, 138
Monmouth, England, 85, 86
Monmouth, N. J., 127, 151
Moscow, N. Y., 152, 169
Mountserrat, 106
Mount Tom, 48, 50
Mulso, 95
Munham, Mass., 43, 70

River, 50

Kantasket, Mass., 109
Natchez, Miss., 116
Navy Island, 139
Netherstoway, England, 95
Nevis, Barbadoes, 106
Newark, England, 96
New Bedford, Mass., 169
Newburyport, Mass., 75
New England, 86, 103, 165, 166

life, sports, etc., 167. 168
New Hampshire, 108, 118
New Haven, 105
New Jersey, 63, 127
New Marlooro, Mass., 117

ITawtown, Hau., BO

New York. 10, 127, 140, 1*3, IBS

City, 3, T5, ISO, 148, 167-169
NiUBia CoQQtj, S. T., 137, 188

Fulla, 137, 138, 140, UT, 148

NorfoUcVft.,138
Hormandy, 87

North Acfamg, Mmb,, 151, 169
NorthunptoD, Englaad, 86, 87, 90
Nortbunptan, Mass,, 3, 4, 6, IS, 13, 15,
17, 86, 37, 43-47, 49-61, B!t-67,
69-74, 78, 80, 81, 98, 94, 107-109,
110, 113, lis, IIB, 139. 130
Northfield, M™., 58, 59, 71, 74, fl?,

94, 110
Norwich, BoslaDd, 90
Nottingham, England, 96, 100
Notwotog, 33

Offenlum, England, 101
Ohio, 10. 135
Olivet, Hich., 156

Orient, 87, 88, 160
Orerbary, England, 101
Oibow, 43

Oxford, EnRlacd, 35. 86, IX
Oifordehire, 75-77, TO-Sl, 85-89, 91,
95,96

Paoifio Ooeui, 10

FariB,

Pelbam. 130

Pendleton. N. Y., 140, 147

Perry, N. Y,, 153

Pera, Ind., 147, 148

Peterabutg. Va., 151

Philadelphia, Fa., 137, 131, 183, 167

Rne Pl«n, 43

Plymouth, England, 01

Plynionth, Mibb., 109

Ponifrct, Conn., 110

PontinB, BlaBB., 56

Fortsmonth, R. I., 106

Potomao Bivei, 159

Radnonhire, VfileH, 81, 86, SO-H
R^abow, 70
Rainbow HiU, 69
Rattlesnake Peak, 133
Richmond, Va., 167
Borne, 88, %
RoBi, Wexford, 89
HothwelL England, 98
Soxbnry, MasB., S, 49, 92, 133
Ilaaeia,144

_-„ oat Me., 105

Sandfoid, England, SO
Sandnak;, O., 148, 150
Saratoga, 130
Saybrook, Conn., 56, 108
Soantio River 133
Scarboioogh, Me. 163
Soipio, N. r., 153, 153
Sootland, 117, 143, 166, 1B7
Shropshire, England, 108

Bonthampton, Englani 104

Bonth Carolina, 117

South Uadley, 137

Sonthold, Long laland, 110

Spain, 143

Springfield, England, 81, 90, 81, 98, 103

Springfield, MasB,, 3, 5-9, II, 18-15, 18,

44^-46, 50, 53-57, 59^1, ^ 65-

68, 71-78, 85, 89, 90-94, 105-108.

110-118, 119, 133-136, 133, 135,

168
Street, 130
W«t, 137, 1S9, 130
SquaJcheag, 59
Sqoheag, 59
Stanton, England. 133
Stebbing, England, 113
Steyning, England, 100
St. Christophcra, Barbadoes, 106
-St. Louia, Mo,, lofi, 157, 160, 181, 183
St. Miohacla, Boibadoea, 106
Si Paul, Minn., ItK
Stookbridgs, Mass., 1S5, 138, I4a 143
Stony Hill Road, 130
Stony Point, 130
Stor&ird. England, 93
Strowan, Scottand, 117
SnffoUc, Masa., 133
SnUivan Coonty, N. Y., 138
Snrre)', England, 96, 100

Tannton, England. 106, 108 .
TanntoD, Msas., 109
Tenneaaae River, 161, 163
Tioonderow, 131, IST, 138
Tiverton, England, 76
Tolland, 1%
Tom. Mount, 130
»Tlngt«n, Eng'

Black, TSTtI

GteatTS
Trenton, N. J., 119

187

Venturer's Field, 43
Vicksburg, Miss., 158* 159
Virginia, 103, 118, 127, 169

Northeni, 103

South, 103, 104

Wabash, Ind., 147

Wales, 105, 108

" Wash," Enrfand, 85

Washington, D. C. 146, 154, 158

Waterloo, N. Y., 137, 144

Watertown, N. Y., 105

Weimar, 98

Westfield, Mass., 50, 53, 60

River, 50
West Haven, Conn., 110
Wesnakeage, Mass., 67, 71
Wethersfield, Conn., 5
Wexford, 89

Weymouth. England, 106
Whiting's Pond, N. Y., 135
Wigwam Hill, 120

Wilbraham, Mass., ISO, 123. 128, 130,

131, 133, 134
Williamsburg, Mass., 110
Williamstown, Mass., 127, 151
Williams' Rock, 124
Wilson, N. Y., 134. 140, 147
Wiltshire, England, 84, 85, 86, 100,

126
Winchendon, Mass. , 152, 153
Windham, Conn., 134
Windsor, Conn., 5, 7, 9, 46, 50, 60,

76, 94. 104. 105. 107, 109, HI,

114, 123, 127
Worcester, England, 86
Worcestershire, England, 89, 90, 96
Worcester, Mass., 130
Woronoco, 60
Writtles, England, 93
Wychwood Forest, England, 91

Yellowstone River, 157
York, 106
Yorktown, 127

GARRARD-SPENCER CHART

The noble house of Spencer-Garrard of London^ England, and the

Garrard' Spencers of Cambridge, Massachusetts, compared^

with additions, by Albert Ross Parsons, member

N. Y, Historical Society ; N. K Genealogical

and Biographical Society, etc.

The chart is based on the following facts : (i) Two opulent
London families, viz., Spencer and Garrard, both represented in
the Haberdashers' Guild. (2) A Spencer-Garrard marriage in
England. (3) Several generations of Garrard Spencers in America,
following Garrard Spencer, named in will of Richard Spencer,
Gent., Haberdasher of London. (4) Michael Spencer (nephew
of said Richard S.), in Cambridge, Mass., said name Michael being
of a London family certified by the Herald's College to be of the
noble house of Spencer.

The chart traces the house of Spencer to the Norman Con-
quest of England, and that of Garrard (Gerard, Garrett) to Lord
Gerardini of Florence, Italy, prior to said Conquest. For copy
of Chart (price %2), address

ALBERT ROSS PARSONS, 109 East 14th Street,

New York City, U. S. A.

WIDENER LIBRARY

Harvard College, Cambridge, MA 02138: (617)495-2413

If the item is recalled, the borrower will be notifled of

the need for an earlier return. (Non-receipt of overdue

notices does not exempt tti£ borrower from overdue flnes.)

Thank you for helping us to preserve our cottecdonl

THE BORROWER WILL BE CHARGED
THE COST OF OVERDUE NOTIFICATION
IF THIS BOOK IS NOT RETURNED TO
THE LIBRARY ON OR BEFORE THE LAST
DATE STAMPED BELOW.

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Full text of "Cornet Joseph Parsons one of the founders of Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts; Springfield, 1636; Northampton, 1655. An historical sketch from original sources .."

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